CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION, 

8ANTA FE, NEW MEXK'O. 

^» ■ 

JULY 4, 1876. 

CENTENNIAL HISTORICAL ORATION BY 

EX-GOVERNOR W. F. M. ARN Y, 

•'8anta Ft"-, New Mexico — The Oldest City in Nortli America." 

^onHi$ mid ^mtimmk : 

RESPONSES BY 

CEN. H. M. ATKINSON, 

HON. JOHN PRATT, 

CEN. EDWARD HATCH, 

HON. T. B. CATRON, 

E. A. FISKE, ESQ,, 

C. H. CILDERSLtEEVE, ESQ. 

CENTENNIAL POEM, 

KY A. Z. IIUGGINS, ESQ. 



SANTA FE, NEW MEXICO: 

Williams & Shaw, Printers. 

2876. 




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OPENING REMARKS 

BY 

GEN. JAMES K. PROUDFIT, 



PRESIDENT OF THE DAY. 



T is only once in a hundred years ! This is, indeed, the only 
t time in tlie history of the human race that the citizens of a 
real republic, founded upon democratic ideas, and controlled 
by free people, untrammelled and uncontaminated by the idea of the 
divine right of kings, or fear of the iron hand of unrighteous power, 
have met together in peace and joy to commemorate, with fitting display, 
and pomp, and ceremony, the fact that one hundred years of the life of 
a republic has been accomplished. The so-called republics of ancient 
history were not governments, " of the people, by the people, and for 
the people." They were monarchies in essence and in substance, and 
important changes came over them all more than once in a hundred years. 
It is also thus with all the republics of to-day, except this mighty 
nation. We can now proudly say that not one gem has been lost from 
the diadem of freedom in one hundred years. 

It is a fact that no nation has ever had a perfect history except the 
United States of America. From the time of the landing of the Cava- 
liers on James Kiver, the Puritans on Plymouth Rock, the Swedes on 
the Delaware, the Dutch on Manhattan Island, the Quakers on the 
Schuylkill, the Huguenots on the Ashley, the Catholics on the Chesa- 
peake, the Spaniards in Florida, the French in Louisiana, the Russians 
in Alaska, and the explorations of Coi'onada in New Mexico, our history 
is written, recorded and known of all men. This is not true of any 
other land on Grod's gjeen earth. The origin and history of all the 
nations of the old world are shrouded in mystery and tradition ; and 



from C;ezar to Bonaparte, every human beast of prey has so torn the 
vitals of history, and so stained its pages with rapine and blood, that the 
student of to-day turns from it with feelings of doubt and liorror. 

From a confederacy of weak communities, without coherence or 
central power ; with few of the elements of real strength ; by bravery 
in war ; by energy in peace ; by wisdom in council; by the influences 
of freedom and civilization, we have extended an empire from sea to 
sea — more powerful than Imperial Rome in her best estate — a sanctu- 
ary for all the peoples, a menace to none. 

From fruitful vale, from green hillside, from city spire and moun- 
tain peak, our voices rise to-day in glad acclaim, and honest pride. 

May peace and joy be with us all, and all the eavth, for many a 
hundred years. 



HYMN. 



jtALjfi -^T^^^ if) A^'ft 

CE3:TX':H:2Nr:£TX.^Xj. 



I 



n 



333r .A.. 5S. UTTC^-O-HyJS. 
Tune: "OLD HUXDRED." 

In thanks to Him who rules ahove, 
Let every heart with fervor glow — 

Our land recalls in pride a.nd love 
Its birth one hundred years ago. 

Columbia, among the free. 

Stands forth a people true and great, 
And other nations bend the knee 

In homa2:e to her \\\^\\ estate. 



From sea to sea, o'er mountains, hills, 
Her grand dominion has its sway, 

The warming breeze her banner fills. 
And peace and union rule the day. 

So let us pledge our hearts anew, 
Let hands join hands from shore to shore; 

Fresh honors on our altars strew, 
And freedom thrive for evermore. 



ji\i' 



'' larkBiii-iii Hirik 



DELIVERED AT SANTA EE, NEW MEXICO, 

Jtllj 4t% 1876; 



BY 

In conformity with tlie following Proclamation of President U. S. 

Grant, to wit : 

" PEOCLAMATION. 

" Whereas a joint resolution of the Senate and House of Repre- 
sentatives was duly approved on the 13th day of March last, which 
resolution is as follows : 

" Be it resolved hy the Senate and House of Representatives of 
the United States of America in Congress assembled^ That it be 
and is hereby recommended by the Senate and House of Representa- 
tives to the people of the several States, that they assemble in their 
several Counties or Towns on the approaching Centennial Anniversary 
of our National Independence, and that they cause to have delivered 
on such day a historical sketch of said County or Town from its 
formation, that a copy may be filed, in print or manuscript, in the 
clerk's office in said County, and an additional coj^y, in print or man- 
uscript, be filed in the office of the librarian of Congress, to the intent 
that a complete record may be obtained of the progress of our insti- 
tutions during the first centuiy of their existence." 



" And whereas, it is deemed pi'oper that such recommendation 
be brought to the notice and knowledge of the people of the United 
States, now, therefore, I, U. S. Grant, President of the United States, 
do hereby declare and make known the same in the hope that the 
object of such resolution may meet the approval of the people of the 
United States, and that proper steps may be taken to carry it into 
effect. Griven under my hand at the City of Washington this 25th 
day of May, in the year of our Lord, 1870, and of the Independence 
of the United States, the one hundreth. 

U. S. Grant. 
Hamilton Fish, Secretary of State." 

a"~"i HAVE been honored by the good people of this City and 
] County to act as the orator in English on this very interes- 
ting day which commemorates the one hundreth anniversary 
of the Independence of the United States of America. And in en- 
deavoring fitly to celebrate this immortal da}^, it surely becomes us to 
express our grateful thanks to God, the Father, Proprietor and Boun- 
tiful Benefactor of the whole creation, who by His word and power 
called into existence the universe, of which this Terraqueous is a 
component part. He adorned and decorated it with everything 
gratifying to the eye and pleasing to the taste of man, whom " He 
created both male and female," and placed in Paradise — the garden 
of delights — with the injunction to multiply and replenish the earth. 
Omnipotent is the word of God ! He spake and the world 
was made ! " Let there he light," He said, " and light there was ! " 
He uttered His voice and from darkness light was born ; from chaos 
order sprang; and from an inert mass of lif^-less matter animated 
beings of ten thousand ranks and orders stood forth in life trium- 
phant. Thus came the universe from the command of God. But 
how gradual and progressive was the development of the wisdom 
power and goodness of the almighty Maker ! Light was the first- 
born ; nest, the aerial expanse called heaven ; then the Avater heard 
His voice, and of the terraqueous globe this element first felt tlie 
impulse nf all creating energy. It was congregated into its aerial and 
terrestrial chambers. Naked from the womb of waters the earth appear- 
ed. The new-born earth God clothed with verdure, with all the charms 
of vegetable beauty, and gave to its apparel a conservative principle. 



a reproducing power. Liglit was itself chaotic until the fimiih day. 
No luminaries garnished the firmament until the week of creation was 
more than half expired. It was then the sun, moon and stars were 
lighted up by " the Great Father of Lights." 

" Bespangled with those isles of liglit — 
So wildly spiritually bright." 
Yet how few can with truth exclaim 

" Whoever gazed upon them shining 
And turned to earth without repining, 
Nor wished for wings to flee away 
And mix with their eternal ray ? " 

Until the earth was born of water, no sun beamed in heaven, no 
ray of celestial light shone upon its face ; for no life was in the earth 
until the sun beamed upon it. Then were the waters peopled, and from 
them came foitli the inhabitants of the air. In the dominion of 
this wonderful element life was first conceived and exhibited. 

The race of earth-borns, creatures of a grosser habit, did not hear 
the voice of Grod until the sixth day. On that day they obeyed the 
command of God and stepped forth into life. Then the Almighty 
changed His style. Till then His commands were all addressed in the 
third person ; " Let there £e," was the preamble, " and there tvas" was 
the conclusion. But now, '■^ Let us make man" and '■'■ Let tis make him 
after another model.'''' The only being made after a model was man ; 
all other creatures were originals. Towards Him if any creature ap- 
proached in any one similitude, it was in anticipation. Man steps forth 
into life in the image of his Maker, and found himself the youngest 
child of the universe ; the darling of his Father and his G-od. Here 
the chapter of creation closes, and man has the last period. 

Such was the value stamped on man by his Creator. A world is 
made and peopled for him ; a palace reared, furnished, and decorated 
for his abode. The Great Architect plans and executes the edifice and 
then introduces to its richest apartment the favorite of His creation. 

'Tis here we are taught the science ; 'tis here we learn the num- 
bers, which, when combined with wisdom, tell of how much account 
we are. 

On man thus valued, dignified, and honored by his IMaker, a 
lordship is conferred. Over all that swims, that flies, or that moves 



upon the earth, his douiiiiinu extends. The erowu plaeed upon his 
head had attractions wliieh anu'els saw, and charms wliicli angels leU. 
Man thus placed in Eden with his Eve — from his side and by his 
side — having all its fruits, and flowers, and sweets, and charms under 
his control, witli the smallest reservation in favor of the Absolute 
Sovereign of the universe, having, too, the whole earth, from Eden's 
flowery banks to both the jiDles, subject to His will — becomes the 
most enviable object in all the great empire (jf the universe. From 
this creation proceeded the entire inhabitants of the world, who were 
filed off into small gron})s called tj-i/jea, and the first effort to resist 
this arrangement was avenged with the confusion of human speech 
which made a dispersion unavoidable. 

Patriarchs and }irinces over these small detachments of human 
beings, called itnfi'rjiis, wi^'lded the scepter for nearly a thousand years 
without any renjarkable incident. Cities, tov*'ns, and palaces were 
reared and ruined during the interval from the Delugo to the coming 
of the Messiah the Prince of* Peace, one thousand eight hundred and 
seventy-six years ago, since which tribes have grown into Nations, 
Nations into Empires and Kingdoms ; of these the present assemblage 
are mostly the descendants of the sons of Brittania and of Spain — 
the sons of whom first discovered America in the year 1492, under 
Columbus, who described the natives of the coast in a letter to the 
sovereigns who sent him on his explorations, as follows : 

•• So loving, so tractilile. so peaceable are these people that T de- 
clare toyour majesties tiiat there is not in this world a better nation or a 
better land. They Im'e their neighbors as themselves ; their discourse 
is ever sweet, gentle and accompanied with asmile, andthough it is true 
that they are naked, yet their manners were decorous and praiseworthy." 

This was the condition of the people of Florida previous to the 
founding of San Augustiii'' there, in the year ISGS, the natives were 
nomadic and had no towns. 

Where we now stand in the cit}- of Santa Fe there was a town 
according to tradition and to records four hundred years ago, which 
dates previous to the establishment of San Augustine, and previous 
to the landing of the Pilgrims on Plymouth Rock. The evidence 
of this is found not onl_y in the ruins of a vast city which was found 



in existence in tlie time of Cabeza de Ikiea and Ccnonado. One of 
the old Indian houses stands in sight of us mi the }nmk of tlie Santa 
Fe River, near by the old San Miguel Chureli. 

There stands in full view of my audiom-e the Governor's Palace, 
erected previous to the year 15S1. and built from material of the 
old Indian town. In regard to the time of the settlement of these 
Indians in towns there is extant a royal decree in Spanish of Emperor 
Charles Y, dated at Cigales, March 21st, 1551, containing the state- 
ment that by an order of the Emperor given in 1546, the prelates of 
New Spain convened for the purpose, had resolved that the Indians 
should be brought into the settlements. 

Philip II in consequence of the intention of Emperor Charles, 
published a statute on the founding of settlements. " It was the 
royal decree designed to protect the Pueblo Indians, and to provide 
for the settlement of others at that time not living in towns. 

A number of the descendants of these Indians are before us 
from the towns of Tesuque, Nambe, San Juan, Santa Clara, whose 
history and appearance indicate their honesty and native intelligence. 
They are to-day in our Centennial celebration the descendants and 
representatives of the people who occupied Santa Fe and other 
towns in its vicinity, more than 4(10 years ago. 

The question as to whether the Pueblo Indians were found living 
in towns, or thus settled by the early conquerors, is clearly settled by 
Cabeza de Baca and Coronado, whoare the earliest authorities upon the 
history of this country. They fnuiid these Indians living in towns 
many of which Avere described as cities by them, and especially the 
Pueblo city with its many thousand inhabitants where we now stand, 
and from which sprang the Spanish city of Santa Fe — the "City of 
the Holy Faith" — the Capital of New 3Iexico. 

At the time of the first Indian resolution against the Spanish 
rule some of their towns were destroyed. Some were rebuilt on 
new sites. These were the only towns whose settlements were made 
after the date of the Conquest. From Castaiieda's description in 
1540 these Indians were found living in towns, and the city of Indians 

• Santa Fe now stands was then a prosperous Indian city, and 

r as the decree in question relates to our city of Santa Fe and 



other towns, the object was to protect their riglits from encroachment 
and imposition. 

Previous to 1583 the Pue]:)lo Indians r-bclled against the Spanish 
Grovernment and drove from the country the Spanish settlers and 
priests of the Roman Catholic Church, and we have an account in 
Spanish of an expedition by Espejo in that year in which a portion 
of the country was again conquered, and the Indians compelled to 
work in the mines. 

In 1G80 the Pueblo Indians rebelled for the second time against 
the Spaniards, and the historian tells us " they drove the Spaniards 
and priests from the country, and again established their own gov- 
ernment and religious worship." 

On the 5th of November, 1G81, Governor Otermin unfurled his 
banner and marched with an army to conquer New Mexico, in which 
he failed. In 1G92 the Spaniards succeeded in re-conquering New 
Mexico, and again took Santa Fe. There is, in the office of the Secre- 
tary of this Territory, three documents in Spanish Avhich would make 
over a hundred pages of printed matter, dated 1693 and 1694, which 
give a full account of the conquest of Santa Fe by the Spaniards, its 
re-conquest by the Indians, and its re-conquest again by the Spaniards. 

AVitli the acquisition of Santa Fe in 169-1 the Indian towns on 
the Ptio Grande and in the vicinity of Santa Fe, twelve in number, 
made submission and were visited and taken possesion of in the name 
of the King of Spain. 



HISTORICAL SKETCH OF SANTA FE. 

The resolution of congress and the proclamation of the presi- 
dent contemplate that the people of each of the towns and cities 
throughout the republic having a Imiory shall have arranged among 
themselves for the public delivery on this occasion of a historical 
sketch thereof from its formation ; and I have been by you honored 
with the selection for that purpose. Aware of the propriety of 
such a sketch being full and complete and of your desire that it be so 
as far as practicable, I have endeavored to attain that end — for cer- 



9 



tainly no town within the limits of the United States can boast of a 
longer or a more interesting history than can the famous old historic 
city of Santa F^. At my request the foUowiug descriptive and his- 
torical sketch was written and furnished me by David J. Miller, 
translator and chief clerk in the office of the United States surevyor 
general here, with which he has been connected since its establish- 
ment in 1854, and who is learned in the lore of the preserved old 
archives and in the records of the Spanish and Mexican governments 
in New Mexico. The sketch is designed to present, besides the history 
embodied, an idea of the present appearance and condition of the city. 

THE CITY OF SANTA FE 

Stands upon both sides of Santa Fe creek, a small river heading in 
the lake on the top of the mountain twelve miles to the east and 
running westerly into the Rio Grande del Norte fourteen miles from 
the city. From it the fields and gardens in the valley are irrigated 
for cultivation, the whole volume of water being usually during the 
irrigating season diverted into the branching acequias or irrigating 
canals. The city residences and other buildings are almost univer- 
sally of the Mexican style, built of adobes or sundried brick, one 
story high, are warm in winter and cool in summer, and are withal 
quite comfortable. It has been aptly said that the city when viewed 
from either of the fine natural eminences overlooking it presents the 
appearance of a large collection of brick kilns. Huge spurs of the 
Rocky Mountains rise in the immediate vicinity on the northeast, 
the east and the southeast, and loom in the distance to the northwest, 
the west and the southwest, a series of low tablelands lying to the 
north, the whole presenting an interesting landscape. Situated at an 
elevation of GS62 feet above sea level the climate is very equable and 
agreeable, the atmosphere very rare and pure, and the salubrity of 
the place unsurpassed. It enjoys on this account a widespread and 
very enviable reputation. It is upon the thoroughfare of much com- 
merce and travel, as yet wholly by animal transportation, and is the 
center of a large trade. 

The population of the city is reported in the national census of 
1870 as 4765, but it is believed it was then really much larger, and 



10 

that it is now not less than 6500. Of these fully 5500 are persons of 
Spanish and Mexican descent, speaking the Spanish language, the bal- 
ance being mainly Americans and Europeans — the whole population be- 
ing divided conventionally into two classes, the " Mexican " or Spanish- 
speaking and the "American" or English-speaking people, the latter 
class being composed really of a majority of foreign born persons, among 
them a large proportion of Jews. The city was incoi-porated in 1 851 by 
the first territorial legislature assembled under act of congress of Sept. 9, 
1850, organizing the territory, but, on account of the levy and collection 
of taxes for the support of tlie city government, a measure then entirely 
new and very distasteful to the people, the succeeding annual legislature 
was preva'led upon to repeal the charter. The city government, there- 
fore, was in operation but one year — and the first and hitherto the only 
mayor Santa Fe ever had was the one elected and acting under that 
charter, Mr. Robert Nesbit. The city was however thereafter regularly 
provided with municipal regulations prescribed and a police appointed 
under a law of the legislature by the prefect of Santa Fe county, of which 
this city has always been the capital, the police being paid from the 
county funds. The matter is now under the management of a board of 
county supervisors created by the twenty-second legislature, that of 
1875-6. 

Santa Fe is known in the old records of the Roman Catholic church 
a^d is often found referred to in the archives of the former civil 
governments of the country as the city of San Francisco de Asis de Santa 
Fe, Saint Francis being the patron saint ; and the annual recurrence of 
Saint Francis' Day, October 4, is still celebrated by the population under 
the auspices of the church by illuminations in the church edifices, the 
streets and upon the housetops, and with high mass at the cathedral. 
Santa Fe is the residence of the Roman Catholic Archbishop of New 
Mexico, Colorado and Arizona. There are in the city four Roman 
Catholic churches, besides another extensive and handsome edifice in 
course of erection during the last six years. There is one Protestant 
church edifice, that of the Presbyterians, who have aresident missionary 
minister, as do also the Episcopalians, though these have no church edi- 
fice. The Roman Catholic church have here a college for boys and a 
conventual academy for girls, at each of which about 150 pupils attend 



11 



from all parts of the Territory. The population of the city not '• Ameri- 
cans" are almost without any exception Roman Catholics. The city 
contains two national banks, each having $150,000 capital, the only ones 
in the Territory. Upon the military reserve of Fort Slarcy, within the 
city north and northwest of the plaza, the government have some excel- 
lent buildings erected for military offices and for the residences of military 
officers, the residences only being two stories high. In the northern 
part of the city stand the ruins of two unfinished stone buildings — the 
territorial capitol and the territorial penitentiary, congress having failed 
during the last twenty years to make any appropriation to complete or to 
prosecute further the work upon them. Adjoining these to the north- 
east is the Masonic and I. 0. 0. F. cemetery, a large and well cared fur 
burial place for the deceased of those fraternities and for strangers . To 
the west of this in the northwest edge of the city near the Catholic cliurch 
of Rosario are the military and private family cemeteries adjoining one 
the other. The plaza or public square in the city north of the river, 
comprising an area of about two and a half acres, contains enclosed 
with palings inside the surrounding streets a beautiful park of trees 
covering an area of about an acre and a C|uarter. The trees are 
mainly cottonwoods — the eight large ones forming the extreme north 
tier having been set out in the spring of 1844 by Mariano Martinez, 
then Governor of New Mexico, and the others in 1863 at the private 
expense of the citizens. The plaza is surrounded upon the east, south and 
west sides with good adobe buildings, the principal mercantile and other 
business houses of the city, and on the north side stands the old govern- 
ment '•Palace,"containing now thcGovernor's mansion, the United States 
Designated Depository, the United States and Territorial court rooms, 
the legislative halls, the Territorial library and the Territorial Attorney 
General's office. The federal officers for New Mexico residing and offi- 
ciating now at Santa Fe are the Governor (Samuel B. Axtell), the 
Secretary of the Territory (W. G. Ritch), the Chief Justice of the 
Ten-itorial Supreme Court (Henry L. Waldo), the District Attorney 
(Thomas B. Catron), the Marshal (John Pratt), the Surveyor 
General (Henry M. Atkinson), the Internal Revenue Collector 
(Gustavus A. Smith), the Designated Depositary (Abram G. Hoyt), 
the Register of the Landoffice (Jose D. Sena), the military Comman- 



12 



der of the District of New Mexico (Edward Hatcli) and staff, the 
Agent for the Pueblo Indians (Benjamin M. Thomas) and the Post- 
master (Marshall A. Breeden). In the center of the park in the 
plaza stands the handsome >So?cZi;*ers' Monument, erected of native granite 
by authority of the Territorial legislature, and dedicated with imposing 
ceremonies October 24, 1867, to the citizens of New Mexico who had 
fallen in the Indian wars of the country and to the Union soldiers who 
perished in the battles in New Mexico during the late civil war. The 
city outside the plaza is very irregularly laid out, the streets, unpaved, 
being narrow, crooked and ancient looking. As no railroad has yet 
penetrated or been constructed in New Mexico Santa Fe as from time 
immemorial still presents continually the scene of a city filled with freight 
wagons and carrying animals, these being the burros or donkeys so 
generally and so universally used in the country. At present there is 
but one newspaper published here, the daily and the weekly New Mexi- 
can, issued by the same house, and published one half in English and 
one half in Spanish, by Manderfield & Tucker, and there is a job 
printing house by Williams & Shaw. There is one Masonic 
lodge (Montezuma No. 109), and one I. 0. 0. F. lodge (Paradise No. 
2), and one I. 0. 0. F. encampment (Centennial No. 3). There are 
five wholesale mercantile establishments, those of Spiegelberg Broth- 
ers, Z. Staab & Co., James L. Johnson & Co., S. Seligman & Broth- 
ers and Ilfeld & Co. 

Santa Fe, from the time the Spaniards entered and occupied the 
country before the beginning of the seventeenth century to the present 
day, has always been the political and military capital of New Mexico, 
which, under the three distinct nationalities to which it has at different 
times belonged, has always constituted a separate political organiza- 
tion, except when for a short time in 1823-4 it constituted with 
Chihuahua and Durango one of the Mexican States ; and the historic 
old "Palace" building on the plaza has been occupied successively as 
his official residence by the haughty war-loving Governor and Captain 
General under Spain, by the power-exercising Civil and Military Gov- 
ernor and Political Chief under Mexico, and now by the statute- 
restricted Governor under the United States. This interesting old 
building, on account of the repairs repeatedly made upon it now-a- 



tf 



13 



days, is fast losing its antique appearance and internal arrangements. 
It has been the scene and the witness of many events of interest and 
importance, the recital of many of which would to us of today seem 
almost absolutely incredible. In it lived and ruled the Spanish 
Captain Greneral, so remote and inaccessible from the viceroyalty at 
Mexico that he was in eifect a king, nominally accountable to the vice- 
roy, but practically beyond his reach and control and wholly irresponsi- 
ble directly to the people. Equally independent for the same reason 
were the Mexican governors. Here met all the provincial, territorial, 
departmental and other legislative bodies that have ever assembled at the 
capital of New Mexico. Here have been planned all the domestic 
Indian wars and measures for defence against foreign invasion, includ- 
ing as the most noteworthy the Navajo war of 1823 and the Texan 
invasion of 1842, the "American of 1840 and the Confederate of 1862. 
Within its walls was imprisoned in 1809 the American explorer 
Zebulon M. Pike, and innumerable state prisoners before and since ; 
and many a sentence of death has been pronounced therein and the 
accused forthwith led away and shot at the dictum of the man at the 
" Pdace." It has been from time immemorial the government house 
with all its branches annexed. It was such on the fourth of July, 
1776, when the American congress at Independence Hall in Philadel- 
phia proclaimed liberty throughout all the land not then but now embrac- 
ing it. Indeed, this old edifice has a history. And as the history 
of Santa Fe is the history of New Mexico, so is the history of the 
" Palace " the history of Santa Fe. 

It is now contended that Santa Fe is really the oldest-settled town 
upon the whole territory of the United States. As the city of Mexico 
of today is but the old Aztec pueblo of Tenochtitlan of Montezuma, 
so is Santa Fe but the old pueblo of Cicuye of Coronado. Saint 
Augustine in the state of Florida, settled in 1565, was conceded 
the distinction of being the oldest until the acquisition of New Mexico 
and its capital, Santa Fe,by the treaty of Guadalupe Hiddgo in 1848, 
when the latter of right assumed that rank in virtue of being, when 
the Spaniards first visited it in or about the year 1542, a populous 
regulated Indian pueblo or town, one that had been in existence there 
is no knowing how many decades or how many centuries. The mil- 



14 



itary exploring forces of the Spanish commander Francisco Vasquez 
Coronado visited various such pueblos in this vicinity at that time, 
mentioning them in his reports by their Indian names, not now 
known ; and one of them unquestionably stood upon the site 
of the present city of Sraita Fe. Which of them it was is now 
unknown, for, owing to the unfortunate poverty of descriptions of 
places given by the historians of that expedition, it is now very diffi- 
cult if not impossible to identify any of them with certainty. We 
are of opinion that it was Cicuye — that ancient Santa Fe vfciB the 
pueblo of this name. If so, modern Santa Fe with its population of 
6500 is not yet its ancient self again, for Cicuye extended along the 
stream nearly or quite six miles, from the mountains as far west as 
the present town of Agua Fria — this in fact is in accordance with 
tradition — and the beautiful valley of undiminished fertility adjoining 
the city has been cultivated annually at least three hundred and fifty 
years, for Coronado relates that when here he found the Pueblos cul- 
tivators of the soil. 

The place since then has a long and an interesting written and 
unwritten history — the former, yet uncollated, being found scattered 
here and there, and indeed being mainly recorded incidentally, among 
the voluminous old archives. Nevertheless much of it has been col- 
lated and presented in General Davis' work the history of the Spanish 
Conquest of New Mexico. The author does not therein state when 
Santa Fe was first settled by the whites, the Spaniards, but mentions 
that it was the capital of the civil and military government of New 
Mexico many years prior to and at the time of the expulsion of the 
Spaniards from the province at the great Indian insurrection of 1680. 
The record shows, he says, that it was the capital in 1640, when 
General Arguello was Governor and Captain General, who discovered 
and suppressed the first mentioned of the numerous insuiTections 
attempted by the Pueblo Indians, he executing on that occasion at 
Santa Fe a number of the ringleaders. He mentions Pedro de Pe- 
ralta as Governor in 1600, General Arguello in 1640, General Concha 
in 1650, Henrique de Abila y Pacheco in 1656, Juan Francisco 
Frenio in 1675, and Antonio de Otermin in 1680, '81, '82, '83. 
During the administration of General Otermin, in 1680, the Pueblos 



15 



had secretly conspired on a large scale to rise and overpower the 
whites and drive them from the country. The time determined upon 
for an irresistablo armed attack upon Santa Fe and the other Spanish 
settlements was the 10th of August. Their plans were however com- 
municated to the Spaniards on the 8th by some natives of Tezuque 
pueblo, and steps were taken to thwart the rebellion. But the Indi- 
ans, discovering that their scheme was known, nevertheless commenced 
the war with vigor, and Governor Otermin soon learned that the 
enemy was marching upon Santa F*^ from the north. They had 
already attacked and massacred all the inhabitants of the town of 
Santa Cruz de la Canada, though it was well fortified and advised of 
their approach. Santa Fe contained then about one thousand inhab- 
itants citizens and soldiery, and the streets were barricaded and 
arms put in possession of the citizens, and the whole population con- 
gregated in the plaza. The attack came on the 12th by nearly three 
thousand Pueblo warriors, who at once laid siege to the city. The 
Governor went out to parley with the besiegers, but could make no 
terms with them. They told him that they had with them two 
crosses, one a red and the other a white one, of which he could take 
his choice, and that if he took the red one war to the death would 
follow, and if the white one peace could be secured only by the Span- 
iards' forthwith marching out of the country and leaving it ever forth 
to its rightful owners, the Indians. Failing to conciliate or make 
terms with the enemy, Otermin re-entered his besieged capital and 
resolved to attack them before the arrival of more of their allies. 
Several hundred soldiers made a sortie, and some terrific fighting 
ensued in the city suburbs to the north, wherein the Indians lost 
many killed and wounded, the engagement lasting nearly all day. 
Late in the afternoon further allies arrived, and General Otermin 
was obliged to proceed in person into the action with his whole fight- 
ing force to save his troops from annihilation and enable them to re- 
treat into the city. The besiegers now numbered fully three thou- 
sand warriors. B}^ means of a large ditch they turned off from the 
city the water of the stream running through it, and cut off supplies 
of provisions from without. The siege continued till August 21, the 
Spaniards in their repeated sallies against the enemy losing in that 



16 



time about five hundred men killed and disabled, including twenty 
priests killed, and the besiegers a great many more. On the 
niglit of the 20th the whites in their desperation determined to at- 
tempt to cut their way through the enemy the nest day and get out 
of the country if possible. They accordingly on the morning of the 
21st marched out towards the southwest, soldiers, men, women and 
children, mostly on foot, each with what he could take along. The 
Indian servants were nearly all left behind. There were not sufficient 
animals for the transportation even of the sick and wounded, and the 
huddled mass of humanity, in momentary expectation of a terrible 
attack from the surrounding enemy, presented truly a lamentable 
and a pitiable sight. They had however less fighting in their exit 
than they had anticipated, and soon were out of sight of the doomed 
city on their dreary march of three hundred and fifty miles to El Paso. 
The Indians immediately entered the city, and commenced their work 
of havoc and desolation. They at once burned down the churches 
and other public buildings and residences of prominent Spaniards. 
They collected the church saints and other appurtenances in a 
pile on the plaza and burned them to ashes. They held high and 
boisterous festival over the charred and ruined city, proclaiming in 
triumphant shouts that the God of the white man was dead and the 
God of the red man, the sun, again lived and reigned and there was 
none else. They forbid the use of a word of the Spanish language 
among their people, bathed themselves to cleanse the baptism of the 
Catholic priests, and allowed those who had been married by these to 
put aside their wives and take others. They utterly destroyed every- 
thing even suggestive of the Spaniards. After a great deal of suffer- 
ing on their march General Otermin with his command of miserable 
humanity reached El Paso about the first of October. 

During the following year the Viceroy at Mexico despatched 
General Otermin from El Paso with an army to attempt to recapture 
the lost capital, reestablish the settlements and restore Spanish su- 
premacy in New Mexico. This expeditionary force marched Novem- 
ber 5, 1681, with the city of Santa Fe for its objective point. On 
or about December 20 it reached and encamped at the west edge of 
the Mesa, twenty-one miles west of the city, the site of the present 



l: 



town of Bajada, where it remained several days, when Otermin deter- 
mined to abandon his purpose and return to El Paso. This he did 
in view of the insuperable opposition he saw he would have to en- 
counter if he advanced, the Pueblos having concentrated all their 
forces at Santa Fe to defend the place. He commenced to retire on 
the 2J:th, and on the 11th of February following arrived at El Paso 
with his command. 

The Pueblos were permitted to remain in undisturbed possession 
of Santa Fe and of all New Mexico for the next twelve years. In 
1G92 the Viceroy commissioned Diego de Vargas Zapata Luj an Ponce 
de Leon as Grovernor and Captain Greneral of New jNIexico, and at 
once dispatched him from the city of Mexico to El Paso to command 
an expedition thence similar in purpose to that with which Otermin 
had foiled. It marched for Santa Fe August 31, and, so far as the 
record shows, met no serious armed resistence until within the imme- 
diate vicinity of the city. Here the Pueblos were assembled' in large 
fjrce, and, upon the approach of the Spaniards, went forth to give 
them battle. In view of the important and deadly combat then about 
to ensue the troops in line were by the priests admonished to cleanse 
their hearts of sin, were administered absolution and the blessing, and 
counselled to courage in the name of Grod and the king. The battle 
commenced about daylight on the morning of September 13, and 
lasted with great fury and bravery and with heavy losses on both 
sides till late in the afternoon. At about three o'clock the Pueblos 
began to weaken and waver and give way. The Spaniards pushed 
their advantage and about sundown they marched into the city with 
flying colors ; and the soldiers, weary with the fatigues of the cam- 
paign and with that day's incessant fighting, soon took up comfortable 
quarters in the houses of the Indians. Quite a number of citizens 
of those who were expelled the country in 1680 and who had resided 
at Santa Fe had asked and obtained permission to return with the 
army and avenge their expulsion. They found upon entering the 
city that during the twelve years it was in posession of the Pueblos it 
had in all respects completely changed its character from that of a 
Spanish town into that of an Indian pueblo. With its capture Span- 
ish supremacy was again established in the country. The surrounding 



18 



pueblos began to come in and declare their submission, and soon the 
whole of them except the most distant and inaccessible were again 
in obedience to the government and the church. 

Having thus attained the first object of the expedition and ren- 
dered feasible the second — to wit, the resettlement of the country by 
the return of the expelled settlers with their families and the intro- 
duction of new immigrants — the Governor and Captain General deter- 
mined to return with his whole command to El Paso. The great 
object of the viceregal government was the resettlement of New 
Mexico, and if possible the puebloization of the nomadic Indians in 
the province. General de Vargas determined to select and appoint, 
before leaving, from among the Pueblos, some capable and trusty 
representative to keep loyal and govern the natives during his absence. 
The person so commissioned was an Indian of the Pueblo of Picuris 
named Luis, a man of fame and influence among his people, the 
Pueblos. And on the 17th of October, 1692, de Vargas set out from 
Santa Fe, first despatching the main body of his charge, including 
artillery, supplies, animals, captives, prisoners, and so forth, with 
orders to await him at the pueblo of Santo Domingo, going himself 
with an escort and some priests by way of the pueblo of Pecos, now 
abandoned. Soon after his arrival at Pecos two hundred and fifty 
people were baptized by the priests into the Roman Catholic church. 
On the 20th of December he reached El Paso and went into camp at 
San Lorenzo near that place, after an eventful and very successful 
campaign into New Mexico. 

Pteporting in exfenso his operations and successes to the govern- 
ment at the city of Mexico, he was soon authorized by the royal au- 
dience there to make another expedition into this province with a 
view to its colonization and permanent occupation. On October 11, 
1693, he marched from El Paso for Santa Fe with his military com- 
mand and a large number of emigrants, mainly from the cities of 
Queretaro, Sombrerete and Zacatccas in Mexico, the emigrants being 
in charge of Lieutenant Governor Juan Paez Hurtado, a name fre- 
quently met with in the archives of the time embracing a period of 
more than forty years. Nearing Santa Fe de Vargas despatched run- 
ners in advance to ascertain and report to him the sentiment of the 



19 



Pueblos concerning his return. At Santo Dom'ngo lie was joined by 
the Indian Luis, whom he had left at Santa Fe in charge of public 
affaire the year previous, and he and the runners reported that during 
the absence of the Spaniards the Pueblos had become disloyal and 
demoralized, that learning of their approach they were resolved to 
oppose them to the death, and that there was then collected upon the 
mesa 21 miles west of Santa Fe, whence Otermin was made to fall 
back, a large force ready to give battle. It was subsequently ascer- 
tained that the Pueblos had induced sundry of the wild tribes to 
promise their assistance in the impending war against the approach- 
ing Spanish army, but that their allies failing to come to time they 
concluded not to interpose by themselves the resistence they had con- 
templated. The command of de Vargas was comprised of one thou- 
sand five hundred persons or more, including immigrants, the fimilies 
of these and the soldiers. On December 11 the command reached 
the present town of Agua Fria, six miles from Santa Fe, where it en- 
camped five days. Luis was sent forward into the city, and he re- 
ported that preparations were making there to give de Vargas not 
only a peaceable but a triumphal entry into the city. On the 16th 
he commenced his march with drum and fife and flying colors, and 
at the head of the column on horseback he marched in at the western 
edge of town. The entire people were assembled in a multitude 
upon the plaza to receive him, the men ranged on one side and the 
women on the other. The troops, having entered the plaza, were 
formed in open ranks to allow the priests to pass through ; and when 
these arrived to where the Indians had erected a large wooden cross 
they kneeled before it, chanted the litany and celebrated the Te Deum 
Laudamvs, and General de Vargas addressed the assembled multi- 
tude in a speech. The ceremonies of reception concluded, the com- 
mand mai'ched to an eminence near town, believed to be that now in 
sight of the plaza about a quarter of a mile to the northeast, where 
the Indians had prepared quarters for the soldiers and the emigrants, 
the former being in the full possession and use of all parts of the city. 
This was still in about the same condition as when the Spaniards left 
it the year before, the works and intrencliments for defence remain- 
ing unimpaired. The principal buildings which the Indians had 



2% 



burned thirteen years before were mainly still unrej^aired, and de 
Vargas commenced tlie work of restoring them. He sent to the 
mountains for timber for work upon San Miguel church, the same 
old Roman Catholic edifice which stands now on the south side of 
the river near the bridge on the road leading from the southeast cor- 
ner of the plaza. Adjoining this old church immediately to the north 
stands yet one of the identical buildings bailt and occupied by the 
Indians when Santa Fe was a pueblo ; and, though erected very prob- 
ably three centuries ago or more, it is still in good preservation, and 
is now inhabited. There are in other portions of the city a few an- 
tique-looking buildings showing Pueblo Indian architecture, some or 
all of them no doubt cotemporaries of the one just referred to. 

The " Palace," which had been partially repaired by him, was 
occupied by de Vargas during his former occupation of Santa Fe, and 
was now in the exclusive possession and use of the Indians. The 
G-eneral determined to move about Christmas from his quarters on 
the hill into the city with his command, wherefore he gave orders that 
all the i^ublic buildings and sufficient of the others should be vacated 
to make room for the rank and file of the army without delay. The 
Indians evinced dissatisfaction at the order. It was apparent that 
they intended to resist its execution. Indeed their preparations 
for doing so soon became manifest ; and incontinently they declared 
that the Spaniards should not come down into the city at all, and, 
manning the intrenchments on the plaza, bid them defiance. At day- 
light Christmas morning de Vargas marched to the assault and con- 
fronted thg works of the rebels. In anticipation of terrific fighting 
the whole command were administered the sacrament and absolu- 
tion and given the blessing by the priests in full view of the enemy. 
While these ceremonies were proceeding the red rebels raised the 
battle-shout, and with their bows and slings hurled at the troops from 
the works a shower of arrows and stones — and the engagement com- 
menced. The troops, with the animating old Spanish battle-cry of 
"Santiago .'" rushed upon the works amid a hailstorm of missiles. A 
portion of the outer walls was soon carried, but to gain the plaza others 
had to be scaled or demolished ; and beams and ladders were soon on 
the ground for the purpose. The enemy within fought the assailants 



21 



with courage and determination, and among other efforts to repulse 
poured boiling water upon them as they ascended the ladders or un- 
dermined the walls. De Vargas was advised of the near approach 
from the west of reinforcements to the enemy, and he at once des- 
patched some squadrons of cavalry to prevent their incorporation with 
the main body in the plaza. The cavalry charged and routed them, 
but they rallied and again attempted to reach the city, when they 
were again attacked, and, after considerable fighting, finally beaten 
back and dispersed. In the mean time the fighting on the plaza con- 
tinued unabated and until dusk, when both parties ceased, neither 
having any perceptible material advantage, though the Pueblos were 
greatly discouraged, mainly on account of their heavy losses in killtd 
and wounded, the serious wounding of their commanding war captain 
and the fiilure of the reinforcements to reach them. In the battle 
about one hundred and seventy-five Pueblos were killed. The num- 
ber of their wounded or of the killed and wounded of the Spaniards 
does not appear. As the troops the next morning were about renew- 
ing the assault, de Vargas discovered the demoralization of the Indians, 
who were soon thereafter seen flying from their intrenchments and 
from the city. He at once marched in with the royal banner in the 
air and with martial music, and, amid the victorious and triumphant 
shouts of the Spaniards, again took formal possession of Santa Fe in 
the name of King Charles the Second. Concealed in different houses 
of the city were found numerous warrioi-s, some of them wounded. 
They were brought into the presence of de Vargas at the Palace to 
the number of seventy, who ordered theu' execution forthwith, and, 
being first absolved by the priests, they were marched out by his 
adjutant and shot. The Pueblos during the night preceding the fall 
of the city had themselves executed several of their principal men, 
among them de Vargas' friend and representative Luis. From the 
Indian families falling into the hands of the Spaniards at the capture 
of the city four hundred young women and children were retained 
and distributed among the families of the whites, the recently arrived 
immigrants, among whom were also distributed large quantities of 
captured produce, consisting mainly of five thousand bushels of corn, 
quantities of wheat, beans, etc. 



Thenceforward the Pueblos, though subsequently making fre- 
quent attempts at insurrection with the same end in view as before, 
and some attacks upon the city to capture it, have never got into full 
actual possession of Santa Fe. Among the old Spanish and Mexican 
archives on deposit at the office of the Secretary of the Territory and 
of the Surveyor General are found frequent references to subsequent 
Indian wars and attacks and depredations upon life and property in 
and around Santa Fe. Of the wild Indians the most formidable and 
harassing enemies were the Navajos (called then the Navajo Apaches) 
and the Utahs. There was in progress with them almost incessantly 
a war of retaliation ; and, though treaties of peace were sometimes 
made, they were almost always soon violated and broken. 

Among the insurrections of the Pueblos that of 1837 appears 
to have been the most serious of modern times. Colonel Albino 
Perez of the city of Mexico was commissioned and sent to New Mex- 
ico by the Central governmeut as Political Chief in 1835, and upon 
the erection of the Territorial into a Departmental government in 
January, 1837, by the Mexican Congress, Colonel Perez was appoin- 
ted Governor, the new government going into operation the following 
May. Assuming his new position, and invested by the act of con- 
gress with extraordinary powers, Governor Perez soon began to exer- 
cise these to such an extent that he became very unpopular. Like 
the old Spanish Governors and Captains General who had ruled in 
the " Palace " before, he is said to have issued his mandates and de- 
crees wholly regardless of the wants or the welfare of the people. 
Sooner or later an ebulition of the popular discontent was bound to 
occur. And in July, 1837, the Pueblos rose in rebellion on account 
of the imposition of a certain tax which it appears the Governor had 
in fact arbitrarily laid upon the tobacco raised in the Indian pueblos, 
and on account also of other oppressive measures which were in fact 
not contemplated by him but which it was reported and the Indians 
had been induced to believe he meditated. The rebellion first took 
form at the pueblo of San Juan, whose inhabitants in modern like 
those of Zia in former times had the reputation of being the most 
warlike of the Pueblos in New Mexico. Nearly or quite all the other 
pueblos to the north soon became the allies of San Juan in the move- 



23 



ment, as did those of Cochiti and Santo Domingo and others to the 
west and south. Upon the approach of an organized liostile force of 
the insurgents towards Santa Fe from the north, Governor Perez 
marched with a small body of soldiers to meet and conciliate or sub- 
due them. A battle ensued at Santa Cruz de la Canada, wherein he 
was badly beaten and routed. He returned to Santa Fe in discom- 
fiture, convinced that the rebellion was much more formidable than 
he had thought ; and he resolved to attempt a conciliation of the be- 
ligerants with concessions, or else reduce them with military power. 
Upon the approach of the victorious insurgents to his capital he went 
out to meet them accompanied by various officials of the government 
and sundry prominent citizens, but they would hold no intercourse 
with him. Returning to the city he was intercepted by a war party 
from Santo Domingo and Cochiti, who fell upon him in the western 
suburbs of the city and assassinated him, together with Jesus Maria 
Alarid, his Secretary of State, and Ramon Abreu, Prefect of Rio Ar- 
riba. This was on the evening of August 9, 1837. During the 
ensuing several days various persons were in like manner killed, in- 
cluding District Judge Santiago Abreu, Lieutenants Diego Zaens and 
Joaquin Hurtado, ]Marcelino Abreu and others. The red rebels cut 
ofi" the head of the dead Governor, kicked it about in derision over 
the ground in their camp, then at the Rosario church in the north- 
west suburbs, and paraded it on a pole in sight of the city. They 
cut off the hands of Secretary Alarid, avowing that with them he 
should countersign tyrranical gubernatorial decrees never more. That 
night a friend of Governor Perez, learning where his dead body had 
been left lying in a field near the rebels' camp, silently stole to the 
spot in the darkness, wrapped the acephalous mass in a blanket and 
brought it into the city, and the next day it was bui'ied where it now 
lies, in the old cemetery on the hill northeast of the plaza. 

At the capital there was no ruler at the " Palace," and anarchy 
reigned. A mass meeting of citizens was held under the portal of 
that building, and resolutions, with a preamble clearly hostile to the 
personnel and policy of the Perez administration, were adopted pro- 
viding for a temporary civil government. On the 8th of September 
Manuel Armijo " pronounced " at Tom6 in the Rio Abajo, and soon 



24 



I drew around him there a large force of men, at whose head he pre- 
! pared to march against the insurgents near Santa Fe, primarily the 
I Pueblos, but who had now grown into a larger and much more formi- 
I dable organization, composed of these and a considerable number of 
' discontented whites who after the death of Perez had openly espoused 
their cause and taken the field. This body of men was encamped near 
Pojoaque, and had already organized and proclaimed a revolutionary 
! provisional government, not yet in possession of the capital, having at 
! its head as Civil and jMilitary Governor one Jose Gonzales and as its 
I Lieutenant Governor one Antonio Domingo Lopez. Armijo, having 
proclaim d himself Governor of New Mexico, marched on the 13th 
of September in command of his army against the other soi disant 
Governor and his adherents at his camp. LTpon the approach of 
Armijo wit'i the imposing military array he presented, Gonzales pre- 
pared to give battle ; but, mainly upon the persuasions of an influential 
Cat'iolic priest who accompanied him, he was induced to enter into 
nejcotiations for peace with his threatning assailant. This proceeding 
created dissensions in his camp, so manifest that they were observed 
and taken advantage of by Armijo, and Gonzales did not obtain the 
favorable terms of compromise and settlement he had anticipated, and 
he was finally obliged to surrender unconditionally, and his whole 
party of revolutionists dispersed. He was made a prisoner, was re- 
duc jd to confinement, and on the 25th of January, 1838, was hung 
at Santa Cruz, together with his second in command Lopez. Armijo 
report d his patriotic (efforts and his successes to the national govern- 
ment at Mexico, and was thereafter soon recognized thence as Gov- 
ernor. And public tranquility being now restored throughout all his 
borders, he established himself in the " Palace " at Santa Fe, where 
the American government found and ousted him in 1846. 

On the 18th day of August, 1846, during the war with Mexico, 
the city of Santa Fe was captured by the United States military forces 
under General Kearney, though without any fighting in or near the 
city. Governor Armijo, as commander of the jMexican regular troops 
at the garrison here and of the militia, had under his command an 
army of about four thousand men, with which he marched out of the 
city on the 17th of that month on the road towards Las Vegas to 



"Aq 



confront and give battle to the invading army of General Kearny 
then approaching from the east. General Armijo proceeded fifteen 
miles to the Canon del Apache and encamped near the western outlet 
of the canon, through which the invaders were advancing — a position 
which if adequately defended would have been almost absolutely impreg- 
nable. The visible evidences of Armijo's preparations for attack and de- 
fence at the Canon indicated that he really intended to fight, though it was 
believed by many in his camp that he only awaited some pretext for 
abandoning the field. The canon for several miles runs between 
timber covered rocky hills averaging about 1500 feet high on either 
side, anywhere within cannon shot and in many places within pcdnt 
blank musket shot of the road alongside of the stream in the caiion. 
He had thrown up breastworks upon the crests of the cliifs on both 
sides of the mouth of the caiion, his men had there collected piles of 
fragments of rocks to hurl down upon the advancing invaders, and he 
had his artillery stationed so as to sweep the road emerging from the 
canon. The cannon were concealed by an abattis made of trees with 
the ends of the branches sharpened and pointing outwards so as to oppose 
an impenetrable barrier to a cavalry charge ; but the abattis was placed 
some hundred yards out of due range of the outlet of the canon, evi- 
dencing that he intended to allow the enemy to pass the gorge before 
opening fire upon them, which done his batteries could have been 
carried with comparative ease. But dissensions arose during the night 
of the 17th in the Mexican camp ; and, though aware that reinforce- 
ments were marching to their support from Chihuahua, Armijo and 
sundry of his ofiicers, taking with them the regular troops and a por- 
tion of the artillery, fled towards Chihuahua, the militia disorganized 
and dispersed, and the Americans had an open road into the capital. 
Upon their arrival here, late in the afternoon of the 18th, the 
Secretary of State, Juan Bautista Vigil y Alarid, acting as Governor 
in the absence of Armijo, received General Kearny at the " Palace" 
and formally delivered the capital to him, addressing him in a dignified 
speech and presenting him his sword in token of surrender and sub- 
mission. The stars and stripes were flung to the breeze upon the 
Palace and saluted with cannon, and General Kearny made a speech 
to the assembled multitude of people, whom he had invited to draw 



26 



nigh and hear him, advising them to return in peace to their hemes 
and avocations, and assuring them in the name and by authority of 
his government of full protection to their lives and property and of 
perfect religious and political freedom under the constitution and laws 
of the United States. Upon the conclusion of the GcnenU's address 
the IMexican civil and military officers present invited the American 
officers within the building and regaled them with native wine and 
brandy, fruits, and other refreshments ; and at night there was a 
sumptuous banquet and an elegant ball at the residence of Captain 
Francisco Ortiz y Baca, on the north side and about midway of the 
street extending then and nAw between the parochial Catholic church 
and the southeast corner of the plaza. The nest day General Kearny 
again addressed the populace on the plaza, having had circulated in 
the city and surrounding towns and ranches a notice that he would 
do so and a general invitation to the people to attend. There wa^ a 
large assemblage, and the address was at considerable length. In it 
tlie people were told that there was now a new regime, that New 
Mexico and the New IMexicans were transferred permanently to the 
sovereignty of the United States, the character and the excellencies 
of whose government were set forth, that they were absolved from all 
allegiance to the Republic of Mexico, and that those desiring to become 
citizens of the United States would at once be affi)rded the opportu- 
nity formally to declare their new allegiance. Many of the people did 
so, and many declined. In after years however, as the permanency 
of the American government here became manifest and assured, 
nearly all the resident Mexicans who had declared their intention to 
retain the character of Mexican citizens under the stipulations and 
guaranties of the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo of 1848 sooner or later 
became American citizens by naturalization, and the remainder of 
them became such in 1851 by operation of the treaty. On the 22d 
General Kearny issued his proclamation addressed to the people of 
New Mexico embodying the sentiments and declarations expressed in 
his speeches ; and on September 22d he issued another proclamation 
announcing and proclaiming a civil and military provisional govern- 
ment for the Territory of New Mexico, and a code of laws for the 
same, which remained in operation and force until the installation, on 



27 

March 1, 1S51, of tho existing Territorial government under the 
organic act of congress of September 9, 1850. 

Santa Fe during the late civil war was captured by the Confeder- 
ate military forces from Texas under Greneral H. H. Sibley in 1862, 
very much as it was by the United States troops under General Kear- 
ny in 1846, and was occupied by the rebels about a month. After 
the battle of Valverde in southern New Mexico February 21, 1862, 
the Confederates, flu;Jied with victory, marched thence upon Santa 
¥6. They entered the city March 10, unfurling the Confederate flag 
upon the" Palace" and planting their cannon in the plaza. Theadvance 
which then entered was a small party of independent volunteers, com- 
posed mainly of men who had formerly resided at Santa Fe and who 
at the opening of the war left here to join the Southern armies. On 
the 13th several hundred more, commanded by Greneral Sibley in 
person, arrived, and in a few days more the city swarmed with Con- 
federat<3 soldiers. The subordinate commands, rank and file, occu- 
pied the public buildings in the city. The Union troops, the federal 
civil officers and the prominent actively loyal citizens had all left for 
the east on March 3. The main body of the Texaus were marching 
to attack Fort Union one hundred miles to the east, leaving Santa 
Fe to the north of their line of march. On the 25th the Union vol- 
unteers from Colorado under Major John M. Chivington and the 
Texans under Major C. L. Pyron met at Apache Caiion, where a 
battle ensued. Major Chivington falling back and the Texans continu- 
ing their march. But on the 28th the main body of the latter under 
command of Colonel W. R. Scurry and twelve hundred Union regu- 
lars and volunteers under Colonel John P. Slough met at Glorieta, 
otherwise Pigeon's Ranch, twenty -two miles east of Santa Fe, when 
a battle ensued lasting from ten o'clock in the morning until five in 
the afternoon, when an armistice was agreed upon. The losses in 
this engagement as reported by Col. Slough were of the Union troops 38 
killed, 54 wounded and 1 7 prisoners, and of the rebel troops 80 killed, 1 00 
wounded and 93 prisoners. On the 29th Major Chivington with 400 
men executed a flank movement upon the supply train of the rebels 
and destroyed it, which so crippled their plans that they at once re- 
treated towards Santa Fe ; and Colonel Slough with his force retired 



28 

to Fort Union. General Sibley with his whole command thereupon 
at once commenced to march out of the country towards Texas, in his 
march encountering General Canby in the valley of the Rio Grande 
and having with him several fights before reaching El Paso. The 
last of the Texans finally evacuated Santa Fe on the 8th of April, and 
on the 11th the Union troops reoccupied the city, and soon the offici- 
als and the citizens who had left in March returned to their avoca- 
tions and their homes. The Confederates during the time they were 
in possession of Santa Fe committed no wanton depredations upon 
life or upon public or private property, and in taking from the people 
their necessary supplies did not exceed the recognized prerogative of 
an occupying hostile military force. 

Santa Fe at an early day after the conquest of New Mexico by 
the Spaniards was made a " Villa " or village, an honorary title au- 
thorized and proclaimed always by special edict of the king. Of the 
places so honored there are now in Spain about one hundred and 
fifty, and in her former and present ultramarine possessions various 
others. The title was conferred only by the sovereign and only upon 
the recommendation of the Royal Audience. It was of various grades 
of rank, the principal being Ciudad or city and Villa or village ; and 
it was deemed a high honor to obtain the appellation. It was con- 
ferred only upon those places whose inhabitants had distinguished 
themselves by some of the preeminent heroic acts or deeds or some of 
the instances of remarkable valor, courage, suffering, selfsacrifice or 
eminent patriotism related in Spanish history during the last thousand 
years. It endowed the inhabitants with certain honorary privileges, 
prerogatives and immunities, and often entitled their city or village 
to be termed and hailed as the Very Noble, the Very Loyal, the 
Heroic, the Valiant, the Invincible, the Renowned, the Illustrious, 
and so forth. The first and principal of the places so honored in New 
Spain was the city of Mexico, which was created a Ciudad or City 
by edict of king Charles I dated June 25, 1530, soon after its me- 
morable siege and capture by Cortez. The preserved old records and 
archives at Santa Fe do not show when the title of Villa was con- 
ferred upon the place : they evidence the fact only. The archives 
dated here from the time de Vargas captured the city and reestab- 



29 



lished Spanish supremacy in New Mexico in 1693 invariably call the 
place the Villa de Santa Fe. The custom of conferring these honor- 
ary titles seems to have been continued under the Mexican system 
after independence. In 1823 the inhabitants of the town of Taos in 
this Territory through their ayuntamiento made an effort to acquire 
the title of Villa. They petitioned the provincial deputation or leg- 
islature at Santa Fe to approve and recommend their application to 
the Mexican congress. On the 15th of November of that year the 
deputation acting upon their prayer referred the same back to the 
corporation with authority to prepare a statement of the claims in 
virtue whereof the honor was asked, to be by the deputation trans- 
mitted to congress with its recommendation — but the record does not 
show that there was anything further done in the premises. 

The historical and descriptive sketch here presented of the an- 
cient and modern city of Santa Fe is not as full and as complete as 
it might be were the ample material for it more readily accessible or 
in a form more available. jMany of the objects referred to are from 
this spot upon the plaza within view of the three thousand people now 
here assembled. And as we now contemplate with the eye these ob- 
jects of interest, and imagine others long since obliterated in the 
course of the three centuries and a half covered by this sketch, we 
can appreciate measurably the times and the experiences Santa F6 
has had, in peace and war and in barbarism and civilization, while suc- 
cessively under the dominion of the Aboriginal, the Latin and the 
Anglo Saxon races. 



MINES AND MINING. 

Turning now from the history of the capital of New Mexico as 
given by Mr. IMUler in the foregoing sketch, I will endeavor briefly 
to set forth that of the Territory itself as to mines and mining. The 
subject is one of great interest, but the time allotted me on this oc- 
casion will not permit a fxill detail. I must therefore be brief, and can 
furnish but a few facts comparatively, derived principally from my 
examination of history found in Peter Force's library and from other 
works, which from time to time I have examined in the congressional 



30 



librf.ry at Washington, corroborated by my personal observations, in 
New 3Iexico. 

The early history of New Mexico as written by the Spaniards or 
rather by the Franciscan friars, for they were the first to prosecute 
their explorations north after the conquest of old Mexico, reveals to 
us the fact that the Ten'itory of New Mexico at a very early period 
had acquired the reputation of possessing mines of fabulous richness 
in gold, silver, copper and other metals and minerals. The Indians 
as it appears had made considerable advancement in the art of smelt- 
ing and the working of metals, as the history of Cortez, and Monte- 
zuma, the prophet, priest, and king of the Pueblo Indians, who left 
this region at an early date, demonstrates. The vast amount of gold, 
silver, copper, turquoise, etc., (a valuable mineral of a peculiar bluish 
color, it is susceptable of a hij-'h polish, and is used in jewelry and is 
much esteemed as a gem, and is worn by the Pueblos and Navajo 
Indians who prize it very highly) worn by the Indians on their per- 
sons, and the walls of their dwellings profusely adorned by the 
precious metals, indicated its abundance. 

The Franciscan friars who first penetrated the Territory of New 
Mexico were an intelligent and highly educated class of men, schooled 
in all the arts and sciences of the period, particularly those pertaining 
t« minerals and mining. They were peculiarly qualified to judge of 
the latent resources of a new country. They saw among the natives 
the evidences of so much mineral wealth that it excited their wonder 
and cupidity. The reports of the existence of vast deposits of the 
precious metals inflamed their countrymen, and inspired a desii-e for 
adventure. Expeditions as I have shown were organized to conquer 
this El Dorado for the crown of Spain. After many campaigns fraught 
with untold hardship and privations, and the sacrifice of many thou- 
sands of lives their efibrts were crowned with success. The natives 
were conquered and compelled to work in opening and developing the 
mines in all parts of the Territory; they were compelled to pack ores 
and fuel on their backs for many miles to the furnaces. The evideu- 
c OS of their active mining opei-ations are to be seen in almost every 
mountain and valley throughout the country. Old shafts and tunnels 
are frequently being found now partially filled with the debris of ages, 



ai 



that excite the wonder and speculation of the prospecto;'. The Taos 
mountains are full of them, many of them are hundreds of foet deep, 
with levels excavated each way from the shaft. One of these old 
shafts which I explored with Colonel Pfeifier, is sunk on a lode near 
the old town of Abiquiu is very deep, and has levels excavated several 
hundred feet in one direction. The records of this ancient mine as 
found in the archives of an old church near by show that the 10 per 
cent, in tithes collected from it amounted to about ten million dollars. 
No work has been done on this mine since 1680. There arc also very 
extensive mine works in the old and new placer mountains of Santa 
F^ county. Old shafts and excavations are quite numerous, gold, 
silver, coal and turquois are found ; a turquois mine in this county 
has lately been explored and the shaft found to be over one hundred 
feet below the surface. From this mine an unusually large and valua- 
ble specimen was sent to the Emperor of Spain. There are also many 
shafts in the Sandia mountain a few miles further south. The old 
turquois mine in the Cerrillcs mountain looks as if it had been worked 
several hundred years ago ; the two mines are located on broad ex- 
tended ridges, and have been worked from both sides to the distance 
of 300 feet or more. 

Since the massacre of the Spaniards by the Pueblo Indians in 
1680 all the richest mines have been covered up by them, and all 
ti-aces so obliterated that they are only known and kept in the tradi- 
tions of the old Governors and other rulers of the various Indian 
towns. There are traditions among the people of immense amounts 
of treasure buried, that was hastily hidden at the time of the massacre. 
La Gran Quivira is the ruin of an ancient Indian Pueblo ; it was a 
flourishing town when the Spaniards first discovered this country, and 
Coronado spent some time there ; its location is a few miles south of 
the Gallinas mountains. There is abundant evidence that it was peo- 
pled by a race of miners ; there are found the remains of old furnaces, 
slags and cinders scattered profusely around, with numerous shafts 
and excavations in the adjacent foot hills and mountains, which indi- 
cate whence they derived their ores. The Aztecs told their conquer- 
ors that their gold and silver came from a long way to the north. 
There are many reasons in support of the belief that New Mexico 



32 



furnished vast amounts of gold, silver and copper to Montezuma 
prior to the conquest. A practical survey would reveal an amount of 
wealth almost startling. At present our country is but little known. 

In 1704 the Spanish people entered into a compromise with 
the Pueblo Indians, by which the former were permitted to return to 
the country, but with the positive and express condition that they 
should not open the mines or prosecute mining as a pursuit. There- 
fore up to a few years past, there has been no mining prosecuted in 
this Territory since 1680. After their return to New Mexico the 
Spanish people turned their attention to trading, agriculture and 
raising sheep and cattle. Nearly all the mining prosecuted in the last 
twenty years has paid well, but for want of capital to obtain proper 
machinery it has not been as remunerative as it should have been. 
The most prominent mining localities at present are Silver City, Pinos 
Altos, Socorro, Elizabethtown, and the mines in Santa Fe county. 

There is a chain of gold placers and of silver lodes extending 
from the northern boundary down through the center of the Territory 
to the southern boundary, which ai-e known to a few of our citizens 
and most of which are not developed for want of capital and machin- 
ery. Some of these placers have been worked by the Mexican people 
in a crude way for more than a hundred years, by carrying water from 
2 to 8 miles in barrels and skins, and then by pan or rocker they 
made from $3 to $8 per day to the hand. Yet the mines are scarce- 
ly touched. Many of them today would rival the richest placers ever 
discovered in California or Australia, if there was water convenient 
to work them. With a judicious investment of capital water in 
abundance could be obtained by digging an irrigating canal from the 
Rio Grande in Rio Arriba county, or from the Pecos river in San 
Miguel county, to the south part of the county of Santa Fe, which 
would be supplied with abundance of water from the Rio del Norte 
river at La Embuda, or from the Pecos. Silver City is located in 
Grant county 420 miles from Santa Fe by the stage road. Though 
comparatively a new town it is rapidly growing in prominence ; it is 
the center of a large area of one of the most promising mining local- 
ities in the Rocky Mountains. Within the last few years several stamp 
mills and other reduction works have been erected and seem to be 



33 



doing well. Deposits of the chloride of silver are proving to be 
very extensive and remarkably rich. I am of the opinion that the 
most valuable mines have yet to be discovered. The mineral belt of 
this region covers a vast extent of country, containing gold, silver, 
copper, iron, and many other minerals. Taking all its improvements 
and the immensity of its resources into consideration, Silver City has 
a grand and brilliant future before her. 

The Pinos Altos gold quartz and placer mines are located eight 
miles north of Silver City. There has been a large amount of gold 
taken from the placers and they are by no means worked out. The 
Socorro mines located in the Magdelena mountains about 30 miles 
west of the Rio Grande and 150 miles south of Santa Fe, furnish 
some remarkably rich silver ores. The ores of these mountains carry 
galena and copper — two or three common lead furnaces have been 
erected which pay well ; most of the mountains lying on either side 
of the Rio Grande, the great river 1800 miles long, which extends 
through the Territory of New Mexico, and which has been called the 
Nile of America, v/ith almost an equal volume of water from its source 
in the mountains of the Territory of Colorado, to its mouth in the 
Gulf of Mexico. Like the Nile it is the reliance of the farmer ; the 
natives have made to each town and the adjoining lands canals for 
irrigation. These are often twenty or thirty miles in length, afford- 
ing also considerable mill power. In El Paso valley the Spaniards 
found a tribe of Indians cultivating the soil 265 years ago, and de- 
pending upon the waters of the Rio Grande for irrigation, and its 
cultivation has been continued ever since — yet the soil is of an un- 
diminished fertility. East of the Rio Grande H. C. Justice, an in- 
telligent metalurgist of our city, reports large deposits of precious 
metals of great value. Mr. Justice is a gentleman who has for sev- 
eral years investigated the merits of our metalliferous resources, and 
being an old prospector, is well able to judge of the value of mineral 
lands, and is in possession of knowledge on this subject of gi-eat value 
to the capitalist and the interests of those who desire to aid in the 
development of our vast mineral resources. 

Santa Fe county and city — the " City of Holy Faith," — is surroun- 
ded with the precious metals. The following I quote from Professor 
Raymond's report for 1870, in which he says : 



34 



" Santa Rosa, discovered forty years ago by Alvarado, is situated 
in a small valley surrounded by hills. The inclined shaft is 50 feet 
deep but mostly caved in. The lode is six feet wide, strikes north, 
23° east and dips 80° northwest. The walls are granite and encase 
argentiferous galena, zinc blend, iron, copper, etc." Since the above 
report this mine has been re-opened by a vertical shaft, and the min- 
erals reduced in a furnace situated upon the Galisteo. The bullion 
produced averaged $120.00 per ton in silver. 

" ?flina Rueleiia. The lode consists of two layers on the surface, 
one of which is three feet and the other one foot wide. The incline 
shaft on this vein is 120 feet deep." 

" Mina del Tiro is situated on the east side of the Cerrillos, in 
the Caiiada de las Minas. An incline 150 feet and a shaft 100 feet 
deep, connect with the extensive montones (drifts) of over 300 feet 
in length and with many chambers. All are filled with water. The 
remains of an old canoc which was used for crossing water in the 
mine are still there. These excavations were made by Jesuits " 
(this by history should read Franciscan Friars and not Jesuits) 
"probably before 1680, and the expense has been estimated at 
$100,000. Silver ore is visable in laige quantities." Professor 
Raymond in speaking of this locality says : 

" The Cerrillos, 17 miles southwest of Santa Fe, contain many 
silver Ijoaring lodes which have never been described, although they 
are well worth it. They are situated on an old Spanish grant belong- 
ing to the Baca y Delgado fimily." (These lauds have since been 
surveyed as public lands and sold by the government to citizens who 
are now working the mines.) " The Cerrillos are a series of low un- 
dulating hills about six miles long and three miles wide, and consist 
mostly of granite rocks, a few of them of volcanic origin. From a 
cone made up of basaltic lava near Martin's ranch, splendid views 
of the old and new Placer mountains in the southeast, the Bernalillo 
in the southwest, Santa Fe in the north and the Jemez range in the 
west are spread before the visitor." 

Many other mines and lodes "of gold and silver could be men- 
tioned, but the time allotted to me on this occasion will not permit. 
Enough has been said to show the age of our city and mineral value 
of its surroundings. 



35 



OUR FIRST CENTURY. 

The Fourth of July, 1776, was a memorable day, a day to be 
remembered, a day to be regarded with grateful acknowledgements 
by every American citizen, by every philanthropist in all the nations 
of the world. The light which shines from our political institutions 
has penetrated even the dungeons of European despots, for the genius 
of our Government is the genius of universal cmancripation ! Nothing 
can resist the political influence of a great nation enjoying great 
political advantages, if she walk worthy of them. The example our 
government gives is necessarily terrible to the crowned heads of 
Europe, and exhilarating to all who look for the redemption of man 
from political degredation. 

The American Kevolution of 1776 was but the precursor 
of a revolution of infinitely more importance to mankind. It was a 
great, a happy, and a triumphant revolution. It will long, perhaps 
always, be accounted an illustrious and a happy era in the history of 
man. Many thanksgivings and praises have reached unto heaven 
because of this great deliverance. The incense of gratitude perfumed 
with the praise of all pat^ots, lias long since risen from mj^riads of 
hearts, and will continue to rise until the principle of self government 
shall cover the whole earth, and the glory and majesty of the Great 
Creator be reflected upon the nations of all lands. 

The praises of a Washington, a Franklin, a Jefierson, a Lafayette 
and other patriots of one hundred years ago, will long resound through 
the hills and valleys of this spacious country, and will, in proportion 
as men are prepared to taste the blessings to result from a fuller devel- 
opement of the great principles of divine government, continually in- 
crease. 



THE WORK OF THE PRESENT CENTURY. 

A more glorious work is reserved for this Centennial generation, 
a work of as much greater moment, compared with the revolution of 
1776, as immortality is to the present span of human life — the 
emancipation of the human mind from the shackles of superstition by 
the introduction of universal education. To liberate the minds of 
men from pagan ignorance and sectarian tyrannies — to deliver them 



36 



from the thraldom of relentless systems, is a work fratight with greater 
blessings, and a work of a nobler daring and loftier enterprise than the 
substitution of a representative democracy for an absolute or limited 
monarchy. 

When this grand work of this Centennial age is achieved then 
will all men literally " beat their swords into plowshares, and their 
spears into pruning hooks, and learn war no more," and bask in the 
sunshine of the glory of the majesty of the heavens, " dwelling in 
peace," under the soverign rule of the " Prince of Peace." 

I am admonished that the time allotted to me on this occasion 
has fully expired, I will therefore conclude in the language of the 
Rocky Mountain bards : 

Hills of beauty round me rise, 

Sentinels to valleys sweet, 
Crowned with azure from the skies, 

Bathed in emerald at their feet. 
Lightness lingers, rises, falls, 
Shedding glory on our walls. 

Santa Fe, the oldest born 

Of Columbia's cherished towns, 
Yet as fresh as glorious noon. 

Life from every nook resound, 
Old, yet new, grown gray yet strong. 
Jubilant for right, but death to wrong. 

From mountain peak the breeze. 

Floating to the plains below, 
Fan the flowers, the fields, the trees, 

Where the sparkling waters flow. 
Here, by the waterfall and glen, 
Pleasure waits the will of men. 

Thunder from an azure sky. 

Lightning flashes earthward flow, 
Storms of wind go sweeping by, 

With their trains of dust and snow. 
Here the elements combine 
At the will of One divine. 



Airy echoes on the hills. 

Gleams of sunshine everywhere, 



37 



Cooling breezes by the rills, 

Tempest tremors in the air, 
All the elements of health, 
All the ways of life and wealth. 

New Mexico, land of treasures new and old, 

New Mexico, land of sunshine and of gold, 

New Mexico, lovely day and starry night, 

New Mexico, land of beauty and delight. 

^ « ■ t m * 



CENTENNIAL POEM. 



By colonel A. Z. HUGGINS. 



BRITANNIA. 

In former days there lived a woman, old 

In years, in strength yet young, proud, cold ; 

Of faculties unequalled — brilliant, keen — 

The very model of a stately queen. 

Her age she counted by the thousand years, 

She deemed herself without her earthly peers, 

And in full grandure sat her golden throne, 

As though esteeming all the world her own. 

A thousand altars blazed at her behest. 

Fired by strong hands from plain to mountain crest ; 

A thousand courtiers knelt to win her smile ; 

A thousand captains fought her foes the while ; 

A thousand ships swept o'er the billowy plain, 

Bearing her royal banner at the main. 

In matchless glory by the sounding sea, 

She dwelt 'mid all the forms of royalty ; 

And 'twas her boast that in her lustrous reign, 

The sun ne'er set throughout her vast domain. 

Full many comely children claimed from her 
Their parentage, and e'er without demur. 
Obeyed all calls that bore her royal name — 
E'en freely gave their stores to spread her fame. 

But with great age will come at last a change ; 
Declining years from youthful thoughts estrange ; 
The glowing faculties die out apace — 



38 



A law enduring to the human race. 
With wrinkled brow and locks of driven snow ; 
With blood becoming sluggish in its flow ; 
With nerves unsettled and with figure bent ; 
With lungs less active and with vigor spent ; 
How could the vital energies remain ? 
With physical, the mental force must wane ; 
A languor take the place of sparkling life ; 
A proneness to inquietude, to strife. 
Then bigotry develops — vengeful curse ! 
And carries dotage on from bad to worse ; 
Leading the thoughts to irresponsive sway^ 
E'en thus it seemed with proud Britannia. 

COLUMBIA. 

Ere long, when Eastern lands were waxing old ; 

When conflicts wild had raged through years untold. 

And liberty seemed mould'ring in the grave ; 

When hope was gone — no outstretched hand to save ; 

A new land was discovered in the west, 

Promising freedom to the longing breast. 

Orand news ! Then hastened pilgrims by the score ; 

Relief from hardships seeking ; weary, sore : 

They set their standards in the new found land ; 

Stationed their guards on every sea-girt strand ; 

Chose as their queen the young Columbia — 

The fairest daughter of Britannia — 

And raised a banner o'er their goodly wolds, 

With " Freedom " blazoned on its waving folds. 

But Britain's queen could not withhold her hand : 
She saw her oifspring peopling the new land — 
The same that from her tyranny had flown — 
And she averred that all should be her own. 

Weakness cannot, for long, the strong withstand ; 

And so Columbia took her mother's hand, 

In timid deference to the stern command, 

And humbly promised to abide her will, 

'Till matron's age her growing years should fill. 

Gently at first the mother ruled her child, 
And with soft words her trusting faith beguiled ; 
But, erelong, as the child in beauty grew. 
And promised soon to take the helm anew ; 



39 



The mother changed her tactics, and in thought 
Kesolved to crush her daughter's realm to naught. 

WAR. 

Columbia sought, by every kindly art. 
To soften her still cherished mother's heart ; 
But all in vain : The daughter could not stay 
The hand outstretched for universal sway. 
Then bloodshed came ; came wild and furious war ; 
Came fleets on fleets from Britain's coasts afar ; 
Came Red Coats, panting for their brother's blood ; 
Came Hessians, hired to swell the rising flood ; 
Came Indians, bought to do a tyrant's will, 
'Till streams of blood fed many a winding rill. 

Dark was the hour, yet Freedom struggled on, 
Led by the brave, heroic Washington : 
Cold steel met steel ; the patriotic few, 
From point to point, with fiery ardor flew. 
Half starved and ragged were the faithful band, 
Yet, full resolved to save their cherished land, 
Endured their toils with nerve unknown before 
In all the annals of historic lore. 

INDEPENDENCE. 

But now a balmy, hopeful day appeared, 

That to all patriot spirits is endeared ; ' 

A day that promised homes to the oppressed : 

To stay the guilty hand of will conquest : 

To end these dire, unnatural conflicts — 

The glorious Fourth of Seventeen Seventy Six ! 

On that proud day, Columbia, adored 
By freemen, by aspiring lords abhorred ; 
Now, of full age, to modest beauty grown ; 
With brow that in celestial splendor shone ; 
Her beaming orbs sparkling in diamond rays : 
Her graceful form winning all peoples' praise : 
Stepped forth, and waving her resplendant hand, 
Declared full freedom to her chosen land. 
Her voice in cheering strains rang through the air : 
Her words in joy reechoed everywhere. 

Again steel flashed, more vigorously borne ; 
And now the foemen quailed with laurels shorn : 



40 



The flowing tide was changed ; the brutal force, 
Surcharged with gore, was checked in its mad course. 
Then equal conflict followed for a space ; 
Then grand successes to the youthful race ; 
Until at last the foe disheartened, sore, 
In utter rout, was driven from our shore. 

ONE HUNDRED YEARS. 

Then followed to the bravest of the brave, 
Prosperity on every rolling wave : 
Riches and honor, charity, good will, 
Contributing the promise to fulfill, 
That freemen could all enemies withstand ; 
Could raise to fame their new apportioned land ; 
Could rule in love with undiminished sway, 
'Till every grievous wrong had passed away. 

But even freemen, human still, will now 
And then opposing sentiments avow; 
Each thinking only his opinions good 
And requisite to real brotherhood. 

Hence, in our midst, dissensions have occurred, 

Which for a time our beauteous flag have blurred ; 

Yet right succeeded always in the end. 

To peace restoi'e and hearts in union blend : 

And all have forward moved in rapid stride, 

Unhindered by opposing wind or tide ; 

Unchecked by danger, billow, strife or fear, 

'Till onward ever in our grand career 

We have emblazoned our loved country's name 

Upon the highest pinnacle of fame. 

'Tis startling to the mind to cast around, 
And view our progress in a single bound. 
Those live who saw us as a feeble child ; 
Who saw our land, uncultivated, wild ; 
Who saw few states, all on the Atlantic shore ; 
Few farms ; towns few — supplied from meagre store- 
But who beheld a foithful, earnest corps. 
Destined to make their mark in future lore. 
And now, what do they see ? A broad expanse, 
Advanced so rapidly that e'en romance 
Would scarce accept the tale — a nation grown 



41 



To span a wide spread continent as its own. 
They see strong workmen on a thousand plains, 
With implements improved for larger gains ; 
They see a thousand mines exposed to view, 
Offering the riches which our mountains strew ; 
They see in every harbor, lake and stream, 
A hundred noble ships propelled by steam ; 
They see in rapid stride the railroad train. 
Traversing every valley, mountain, plain ; 
They see the telegraph, with lightning speed, 
Coursing the country on its wiry steed ; 
They see, by strides to ages past unknown, 
A thousand towns to vast proportions grown ; 
They see their land of unpretentious birth, 
Exalted to the noblest rank in earth. 

THE OVATION. 

A nation now, acknowledged by the world. 

Of fame scarce equalled, and with flag unfurled, 

We celebrate our glorious natal hour. 

Our growth, our freedom, brotherhood, our power. 

And not alone do we our altars raise, 

In fervid thanks in these triumphal days : 

For many nations join around our shrine, 

In honor to Columbia, divine. 

Britannia, proud queen, in gracious mood, 

Reclothed in all the charms of motherhood. 

Comes to congratulate, in accents mild, 

The glories of her freedom loving child. 

Comes France, our faithful friend in direst need. 

Who, with strong hand, showed brotherhood indeed; 

Comes Germany ; comes Russia ; Turkey, too, 

On Freedom's shores old friendships to renew ; 

Comes Austria, Italy, Greece, Papal See ; 

E'en China comes, to mingle with the free ; 

Comes young Brazil, Don Pedro in command, 

To view the wonders wrought by freedom's hand ; 

Comes IMexico, and in the sweeping train. 

With graceful bearing, comes old mother Spain. 

Why this grand rush to young Columbia's realm, 
As if our swelling hearts to overwhelm ? 
Why come proud monarchies in rich array. 
On this, our soul inspiring, festal day ? 



42 



They come because they honor our swift strides 
Towards supremacy, 'gainst floods and tides ; 
Because they see in Freedom's lines a star 
Of splendor, lighting countries near and far ; 
Because the greatest can but honor right, 
As more divine than wealth or lordly might. 

Blessed day ! A grandly thriving people now, 
Stand forth to register a sacred vow — 
To guard the flag that o'er our country flows, 
And in our homes the light of peace bestows. 
They meet from distant points, to notes compare ; 
To mutual, cordial gratulations share ; 
They meet in glowing health to view the past. 
In glory shining, yet with clouds o'ercast : 
They meet to view the present, brilliant, clear ; 
Fanned by a balmy, strength'ning atmosphere ; 
They meet, each his improvements to reveal ; 
True hands to shake and plighted faith to seal ; 
They meet, a prosperous reunion band 
In proud devotion to their hallowed land. 

Be this Centennial a beacon light, 

To guide lost wanderers through the darksome night ; 

And let its glories be but the prelude 

To others reaching to infinitude. 



ORATION IN SPANISH, 



By JUDGE EDMUND F. DUNNE. 



[Upon the conclusion of the reading of the Declaration in Span- 
ish and the interlude of music by the band. Judge Dunne, being 
next on the programme, arose and addressed the audience in the 
Spanish language ; but his oration has not been furnished in En- 
glish for incorporation here. All those present acquainted with 
the beautiful and copious language in which the orator spoke, unite 
in admiring the elegant Castilian in which he portrayed the heroic 
annals of Spain and the Spaniards and the eloquence and excellence 
of the effort.] 



43 

TOASTS AND RESPONSES. 



[The sentiments and responses according to the programme were 
to be in both the English and Spanish languages, and they were so 
announced and made. Only the responses delivered in English are here 
reproduced however. The associate respondents to the respective 
toasts were General Atkinson and Don Clemente P. Ortiz, Captain 
Pratt and Judge Antonio Ortiz y Salazar, General Hatch and M:5Jor 
Jos6 D. Sena, Mr. Catron and Don Vicente Garcia, Mr. Fiske and 
Don Trinidad Alarid and Mr. Gildersleeve and Don Jos^ B. Ortiz.] 



'THE PRES3DENT OF THE UMSTED STATES. 



By general H. M. ATKINSON. 



Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen : 

fHE ofBce of President at the birth of the republic was surrounded 
with difficulties and embarrassed by responsibilities of such a 
character that even a Washington accepted the trust imposed 
upon him by three millions of people with many misgivings as to the 
success of his administration. 

Our form of government was then an experiment, and the Chief 
Executive had no idle task to perform in administering the new and 
onerous duties of his office. Grave as were the responsibilities 
of President at that time, when the nation was composed of a popula- 
tion of less than three millions of people, how much greater are they 
now with nearly forty -five millions of people, scattered over a vast in- 
crease of territory, with a diversity of interests, enlarged, comensurate 
with the growth of the republic. With perhaps one or two exceptions 
the office has been filled creditably by representatives of the various 
dominant political parties, and in general the American people can 
refer with pride to the record of those upon whom a free people have 
conferred the distinguished honor of Chief Executive. 

Somewhere in the speculative writings of the ancient Greeks, 
the highest post of political honor is accorded to him who rules with 



44 



justice over a free city. This saying is full of practical wisdom to the 
American people, and it readily occurs to us who live under the pro- 
tection of a republican form of government, that one of the most diffi- 
cult and perplexing positions to which man can aspire in political life 
is the Chief Magistracy of a republic, each of whose citizens feels that 
he is the peer of his chief and entitled to the same privileges and 
rights of person and property. 

To harmonize the conflicting interests and passions, and so govern 
as to win the applause of even his own partizans, is a most difficult 
task, and one which few men are capable of performing. 

Great as the difficulties have been that have surrounded the office, 
I doubt if in all history can be shown a long line of chief magistrates 
or rulers of any nation, who have continuously and for nearly a cen- 
tury ruled with such satisfaction to any people as have the various 
Presidents of the United States, and of these whom we delight to 
honor, none has been more faithful to his high trust as ])resident than 
U. S. Grant. Emerging from an humble and unpretending life at the call 
of his country in the hour of her peril, he has by his own merit and 
ability attained the most honorable and distinguished position in the 
gift of a great and free people. The unassuming manner which char- 
acterized his life as a private citizen followed him through his military 
career, while commanding the federal troops in the midst of the recent 
conflict, and nowhere has that modest demeanor been more notice- 
able than during his seven years occupancy of the presidential chair. 

Victorious in war, and generous in peace, great as a general yet 
still greater as a statesman, at a time when the nation was recovering 
from the results of a terrible civil war, when the hearts of the late 
contestants were burdened with the discord resultant from the long 
strife, he stood like a rock, stemming the angry waves of passion and 
hate that sought to overwhelm him, and has so ordered his acts that 
even his enemies can find naught against him, and the future histor- 
ian will record him as one of the ablest of generals and wisest of states- 
men. 



45 



THE CENTENNIAL BIRTHDAY OF AMERICA: WJAY IT 
PROVE THE FIRST OF UNNUMBERED CENTEN?J!ALS. 



By HON. JOHN PEATT. 
Mr. President, Felloav Citizens : 

^^^jODAY, ill city, town and hamlet, from New England'^ ocean- 
^■) beaten shores to the waving forests of Oregon, from the semi- 
tropic waters of the Gulf to the breezy lakes of the North, 
from the golden sands of California to the white fields of Greorgia and 
the Carolinas, leaving the labors of the work-shop and the counting 
house, the bench, the bar, and the pulpit, from the mine and the 
foundry, the forest and farm, come more than forty millions of free 
people to exult in one hundred accomplished years of national exis- 
tence, growth and prosperity, and to utter the wish just expressed. 

We celebrate today no triumph of arms, where all that was won 
was a province wrested from one allegience to another equally hard 
and hated, no single fame earned at the cost of thousands of innocent 
lives and years of useless suffering, no false and tinsel glov}- that per- 
ished with the wearer. 

We are assembled to commemorate the enunciation of what are 
today living principles, left not behind by the world in its advance- 
ment as useless, wurn-out motives of action, but principles which the 
knowledge and experience of years better enable us to approximate 
to a comprehension of their trutli and justice, their essentiality to 
national well being. 

While we hold in grateful remembrance the honored names of 
those who were wise in planning, forcible and eloquent in advocating, 
and brave and skillful in executing, during the trying years of the 
nation's birth, yet the great cause for which the}' counselled and fought 
overshadows while it brightens their fame. 

Time but adds new lustre to their laurels, and the world con- 
stantly growing to a fuller appreciation of their wisdom, bravery and 
self-sacrifice, the studied phrase of eulogy is less needed ycar'by year, 
for those names in whose sound 

* * * there is a charm 
The nerves to brace, the heart to warm. 



46 



The justification which they gave to the world for their appeal 
to arms set forth principles too broad, too general, too well grounded 
in right in truth, too applicable to all times and to all nations, to be 
confined to these shores, to this people. " They builded wiser than 
they knew," and they not merely founded a nation and a government 
for themselves and their posterity, but they demonstrated to the world 
the possibility of safely merging into one class the governing and the 
governed, and the consequent identity, mutuality and protection of 
all interests in the action of government. 

The men of 1776 have passed away, but the nation and the gov- 
ernment founded and formed by them still stand, and we of this time 
assuredly have duties for its preservation as surely as had they in their 
inception and formation. 

From the first there have been in our country, few in number 
but noisily and noisomely prominent, classes, not resultant from our in- 
stitutions, not accordant with the character of our people. 

The debauched, howling " striker " vending his vote at the polls 
like wares in the market, the dishonest official busy only in the ad- 
vancement of his own mean personal profit, the ignorant, uncultured 
imbecile vainly striving to cloak in the importance of official station 
his uncouth inefficiency : these have, in former years as now, given to 
many good and thoughtful men, who failed to see that present evils 
are alwa3-s apparently greatest in degree, prevalance and power, ap- 
prehensions for the purity, for the perpetuity of our institutions. 

Their apprehensions we may easily believe are unfounded, for 
these are but accidents, excresences. 

They are but the bubbling scum, that thrown to the surface 
seethes and simmers for a time in pretentious and offensive activity 
but to decay and pass away, leaving the great body below solid and 
sweet, pure and powerful. 

They are not representative citizens, not representative public 
servants. No ! They are types of classes as small as they ai'e loud, 
weak and vicious, and soon descend to the visible degradation or hidden 
obscurity they so richly merit. 

Their presence however admonishes us the more carefully to con- 
sider that in a government like ours we have not only privileges to 
enjoy but duties to perform, perhaps sacrifices to make. 



47 



Wishes without works are but futile ; and accomplished or re- 
tained good is seldom had, save with duty done. 

Eveiy American therefore, the honest, intelligent private citizen 
versed in his country's history, and the nature of its institutions, in 
casting his ballot, every public servant, trained and cultured in honesty, 
wisely and efficiently discharging his official functions, every journalist 
fully appreciating that the press should be the reflector, the exponent, 
the demonstrator of the always existing, and always prevalent right, 
good and true public sentiment, the preacher in the pulpit, the edu- 
cator of youth, all these and others in their stations should be always 
actively conscious of the pressing duty of sacredly guarding the trust 
placed in their hands, always watchfully careful to see that it is not 
suiFered to dim or decay. 

So with the glorious memories of the past shall be mingled the 
solid satisfaction, the bright assurance of the future. 

Then shall Columbia's Centennials cease only in the years that 
bring the full fruition of the invocation " on earth peace, good will 
towards men," when the anniversary of her natal day becomes the 
world's festal season, shall see the assembled nations of the earth re- 
joicing in that true, orderly, rational liberty of which she has been 
the originator, the organizer, the fair examplar. 



THE ARMY AND NAVY OF THE UNITED STATES.' 



By general EDWARD HATCH. 



HE Amiy and Navy of our country created in the interest of 
human rights a century ago, was then as now, from the peo- 
ple and of the people. 

A citizen transformed into the soldier to do battle for the Repub- 
lic in its youth, as now to die in defense of its honor in the nation's 
manhood. 

With all nations we recognize the need of an army, and as all 
have a voice in our government, we honor those interested to preserve 
the integrity of our territory and to preserve inviolate its flag on 
every sea. 



48 



The nation may well be proud of its army and navy. One hun- 
dred years ago the world recognized the valor of its soldiers and sailors, 
acknowledged the genius of its leaders. It was because we were then 
as now an energetic, intelligent, courageous people. That the Republic 
was possible and today ?ifact. To have accomplished our first Cen- 
tennial the army and navy in sufi"erings and triumphs have had their 
proper place. This achievement is their eulogy, none other is required. 
Of those who went to the field their deeds live in the hearts of the 
nation — there they will live forever, whether they fell or returned there 
is no need to speak. The Republic looks back upon them in pride and 
gratitude. 

It was inevitable that a people cradled to freedom in conflicts 
with an unjust power, her sons invigorated by the ocean, hardened 
almost to invincibility by a struggle against human despotism, should 
be foremost today among the nations in development of political, re- 
ligious and commercial freedom, and that her army and navy should 
furnish ability of the highest order in her commanders. As long as 
the Republic lives will her army exist, (war is the condition of the 
world), so but adjusted and distributed is this power in our nation its 
guardian always, ueyer its master. 

Though America has lately emerged from war with an enormous 
debt, scarcely purchasing tranquility with fearful loss of life, she re- 
joices in the glory of her arms — proud of the valor of her sons. 

That with the evils following the sword comes many virtues. 
For the soldier who would achieve greatness and bring honor to his 
country, must exercise the virtues inculcated by our mothers, (dearer 
than life to the American soldier) honor fortitude, courage, obedience, 
modesty and temperance, with love of country, which stimulates the 
brave man's patriotism, and is a corrective to the rich man's pride, 
imbued with the precepts of our constitution, our army will, in com- 
ing centuries, secure the country from foes without, and guarantee 
tranquility within. 



49 
THE WOMEN OF AMERICA." 



By HON. THOMAS B. CATRON. 



[Not having a copy of Mr. Catron's remarks tliej are only re- 
ferred to here. The speaker claimed and eloquently maintained that 
since the creation women have occupied a very distinguished position 
in the history of the world, and that they deserved all the honors that 
had been showered upon them. In no nation under heaven had the 
influence of good women been crowned with so much enduring glory 
as in ours. He gave them an exalted niche in the temple of fame for 
giving to the world the notable day and the glorious men of a hundred 
years ago. It was to the mothers, daughters and sisters of the revo- 
lutionary times that we owe a debt of gratitude for giving to us the 
blessings of freedom and good government then and now, and cited 
his audience to the history of all the republics that have ever existed 
— especially to Mexico — as exemplars of the influence of good women 
in guiding to fame and greatness. He claimed that like the perpetual 
order of Nature women never change. Today they are the guiding 
stars of this nation as they were a hundred }■ ears ago. As in the dim 
and distant ages, they labor on the same today for the good of human- 
ity and in the cause of God. He maintained that the men of our 
land, particularly, should feel eminently grateful to the gentler sex ; 
that filial love and unceasing devotion is their due ; and that while we 
give undying honors to the women of the revolution, those of the pres- 
ent day — among them many of the fair Castilian race in America — 
should not be overlooked. The speech was well received, and was 
appreciated as an eloquent tribute to woman and to her influence and 
potency as a prime power in the afiairs of the world.] 



'WASHJfJCTON, THE FATHER OF HIS COUNTRY." 



IN SILENCE. 



50 



SPAIN, THE MOTHER COUNTRY OF THE GA3TILIAI 
RAGE m ATnEmCA." 



By EUGENE A. FISKE, ESQ. 




Mr. President and Ladies and Gentlemen : 

HETHEE, we would examine the literature of Spain, com- 
mencing with the philosopher Seneca and thence descending 
throughout the middle ages, when Spain was the objective 
point of the pilgrims of learning of all Europe, to Cervantes and the 
host of honored names of more moderm times ; whether we would 
inquire into her contributions to science or her place in the world of 
art under the leadership of Murillo and Velasques ; whether we would 
consider her manufactories from that remote period when the silks of 
Seville and Granada, the cloth of Murcia and the arms of Toledo 
ranked first in the commercial marts of the world ; whether we would 
examine into the wealth of her natural resources or the customs and 
manners of her people for the centuries since she has been a great 
nation, or whether we would seek to know of the successes of her 
armies in war or of her statesmen in peace ; to whichever of these 
sources of greatness in a nation we turn, the field of information 
widens out before us covered with such abundant harvest that even 
a brief mention of either of them cannot be made in the moment al- 
lotted for a response to this sentiment. 

We must therefore leave these inquiries for other occasions to 
the patient seeker after the useful, the beautiful and the grand in the 
records of the past ; but, upon this the one hundredth anniversary of 
the natal day of our independence, standing erect in the full con- 
sciousness that we are free and offering thanks for the blessings of 
liberty, there is one portion of the history of Spain which we cannot 
overlook without the sin of ingratitude. I need not tell you that the 
period to which I refer was that age when the names and the acts of 
the sons of Spain upon this continent were so deeply graven upon the 
book of fame that they will endure and grow brighter with the growth 
and advancement of civilization — when they conquered and gave 
America to be the home of freemen and the asylum of the op- 
pressed of the whole great brotherhood of mankind. 



51 



The record of that age reads like romance so wonderful seems to 
us in these matter-of-fact times the achievements of the handful of 
men who victoriously carried the name of Spain and the Christian 
religion into the heart of a new continent then swarming with a 
strange and hostile people. But it is not romance : it is history, but 
the history of no common race. It is the history of a brave, gener- 
ous and enlightened people, in whose veins flowed the turbulent 
blood of the Iberian, the Celt, the Goth, the Vandal and the Arabian, 
mellowed by the best blood of ancient Rome and Carthage ; whose 
ancestors in the youth of civilization, undisciplined as they were, had 
fought against, and for many years held at bay, the invading legions 
of imperious Rome when Rome was the proud mistress of the world ; 
whose ancestors five centuries later under Euric the visigoth, had 
put an end to the Roman empire in what is now Spain ; whose ances- 
tors had offered up their lives in the storm of battle under Roderick 
the last of the Grothic kings and marched to victory with Pelayo and 
the immortal Cid, and who, themselves, with the record of such an 
ancestry to stir up longings for renown in arms, had been bred and 
nurtured to deeds of valor on the fields and in the passes of Granada. 

These were the dauntless men who leaving home and kindred 
sailed unto an unknown ocean in quest of that land of which their 
tidings were as vague and shadowy as the winds that filled their sails, 
who with Ponce de Leon sought for the fountain of eternal youth in 
the morrasses and on the flower-clad hills of Florida, who first of 
Europeans beheld the scarlet gleam of the setting sun sinking behind 
the broad and peaceful Pacific, and who, hurling themselves like the 
whirlwind against the fierce and warlike natives, planted the Cross in 
the virgin mould of the forest and on the wide and fertile plains of a 
new world for the honor of Ferdinand, of Isabella and of Spain, for 
the good of posterity and for the glory of the ever-living God they 
worshipped. 

The thunder of the cannon and the clamor of the trumpets of old 
Spain no longer awake the echos in the hills of America, for the de- 
scendents of the conquerors have acquired what their heroic sires, 
bound by the iron bands of custom, centuries old, could not achieve 
— free governments. But the deeds of the noble dead, to whom the 



Old 



mysteries of the future are no longer mysteries, and who in Hfe walked, 
with unshaken fortitude, side by side with the grim specters of Famine 
and of Death that they might redeem this continent, still live in 
memory, for the voice of Truth, speaking from the pages of history, 
speaks louder than the voices of men continually reminding us of the 
debt we owe to the departed heroes who bequeathed to us the soil upon 
which we now celebrate, where, unfettered by monarchical traditions and 
power, it is possible that the genius of Liberty, who presides at the 
birth of every man, may watch over and guard him until the gray 
twilight of his life when his soul passes up into the presence of his Creator. 
Wliile we pay our homage to the fathers of the Republic let us 
salute Spain, the glorious mother of the conquerors and of the Casti- 
liau race in ximerica. 



"THE A5V?ERICA8*3 UNION: ESTO PERPETUA." 



By CHARLES H. GILDERSLEEVE, ESQ. 



Mr. President and Fellow Citizens : 
^i DOUBT if there is a heart in the United States, today, that is 
^w) '^^'^^' fill^^ ^'^^^^ ^^" proud feeling of patriotism but what it 
~"~^^ palpitates with a responsive throb at the sentiment, " May 
our Union be perpetual." Born one hundred years ago amid the 
tumult and confusion of a revolutionary strife whose annals are un- 
paralleled in the pages of history, with barely sufficient supporters to 
beat off oppression's ruthless power, it now stands up boldly and defies 
the world. This day forty million of freemen worship at its shrine, 
and with one voice that resounds like the continuous unbroken chain 
of great thunders from Maine to California, from the lakes of the 
North to the Gulf of the South, exclaim, " May our Union be per- 
petual." Founded on just and honest principles ; built by the mighty 
and combined strength of national industry and independence ; ce- 
mented by the sweat and blood of our forefathers^ success has crowned 
all its efforts in peace and in war ; naught but the clarion shout of 
victory, victor)/ ! has followed in its wake since Freedom gave it birth. 



53 

Our Union I Its very name fills tlie soul of every true patriot 
with rapturous enthusiasm. The asylum of the oppressed and down- 
trodden of all nations, where the heart throws all its fetters off, and 
the unburdened mind is as free as the winds that play round the 
cloud-capped peaks of yonder mountain chain. 

" May our Union be perpetual !" May its noonday never dar- 
ken till all records of valor and nations are ground into eternity's 
dust ! May its golden sunlight never grow dim till the fiat of time, 
till the sun of heaven itself doth die. 



THE CELEBRATION. 

3"""! T is deemed proper to append to the foregoing collection of 
j speeches, etc., a brief review of the great popular celebration 
at Santa Fe which was the occasion of their utterance. As 
it was the celebration of the first centennial birthday of the American 
republic, a republic now the recognized principal in the great common- 
wealth of nations, the citizens of the capital of New Mexico in mass 
convention had resolved to make their preparations for it on a scale 
proportionately commensuate with those of the most oppulent and 
patriotic cities in the land. Indeed the published programme of pro- 
ceedings indicated a demonstration unpreeedentedly comprehensive 
and grand for Santa Fe ; and. should this record of it perchance be 
preserved to the second of the centennials contemplated in the last 
stanza of Colonel Huggins' poem, the then denizens of Santa Fe may 
thereby have an idea of how the occasion was here observed a hun- 
dred years before. 

At dawn on the Fourth a salute of thirteen rounds from the 
twelve-pound brass cannon at Fort Marcy ushered in the glorious day 
always welcome to the American people, and on this occasion doubly 
welcome at the thought that it was the first and very probably the 
last and the only centennial day any of them would ever witness. At 
an early hour a large concourse of people from all over the city and 
from the country began to assemble upon the plaza. Almost every 
place of public and private business and numerous residences in the 



54 



city had throwu the Starspangled Banner to the breeze. The day 
opened and contmued beautiful and delightful. At the hour pre- 
scribed, half-past eight o'clock, the chief marshal and his assistants 
were observed busy in forming the procession on the north side of the 
plaza. This was soon accomplished, and the great mass of many and 
varied constituents and concomitants marched from the northeast cor- 
ner of the plaza, through sundry streets to the north and west, and 
back into the plaza at the southwest corner. As it proceeded the 
main object of interest was perhaps the Car of Independence, a large 
government ambulance tastefully and appropriately prepared, and 
drawn by six tremendous black mules with a groom at the head of 
each. The car, pyramidal in shape, was large and commodious, 
having a wide base projecting over the wheels of the vehicle, and 
upon its top waved the Stars and Stripes from a tall aspen pole. Upon 
the projecting base were seated thirty-nine young girls, little beauties, 
representing all the States of the Union and the Territory of New 
Mexico, each flourishing a miniature national banner bearing the 
name of the State she represented, and each evincing a patriotic pride 
in her character as the representative of a portion of the mightiest 
commonwealth of the world. All were arrayed in the purest white, 
with wreaths of flowers on the forehead and with red, white and blue 
saslies and badges upon their shoulders and breasts. Upon the top 
of the car as it moved were seen standing the Goddess of Liberty, 
Uncle Sam, and Young America, in character. The Goddess was 
personated by Miss J. Gracie Shaw, robed in snowy white, with red 
sash on the shoulder and blue tiara on the forehead inscribed with the 
word Liberty. Brother Jonathan was personated by Mr. George 
N. Davis, full six-feet-six tall, dressed in red, white and blue striped 
home-spun goods, long swallow-tailed coat, stove-pipe hat wrapped 
around with ribbons, and breeches with long straps under the boots. 
Young America, represented by Master Cyrus Amy, sported a brown 
and yellow suit, with straw hat and flag, and a streamer bearing in 
parti-colored letters the name Young America. The names of the 
thirty-nine young Misses before referred to, and of the States they so 
joyfully represented — including New Mexico pro hac vice — are as 
follows : 



55 



Luisa Ortiz, Alabama, 

Helena Grunsfeld, Arkansas, 

Kitty Hudson, California, 

Mabel Loud, Colorado, 

Adelaida Ortiz, Connecticut, 

Grace Proudfit, Delaware, 

Inez Stevens, Florida, 

Lula Rice, Georgia, 

Emma Ross, Illinois, 

Luz Delgado, Indiana, 

Tomasita Lopez, Iowa, 

Belle Watts, Kansas, 

Margarita Tompkins, Kentucky, 

Sallie Grunsfeld, Louisiana, 

Mary Everett, Maine, 

Anita Johnson, Maryland, 

Vicenta Montoya, Massachusetts, 

Kitty Cosgrove, Michigan, 

Mabel Belcher, Minnesota, 

Francisca Tompkins, Mississippi, 

Amada Garcia, Nebraska, 

Luz Ortiz, Nevada, 

Rosario Ortiz, Missouri, 

Bessie Hatch, New Hampshire, 

Cleofes Ortiz, New Jersey, 

Emma Ritch, Wisconsin, 

Isabella Proudfit, New York, 

Eliza Krummeck, North Carolina, 

Gertrude Belcher, Ohio, 

Felipa Delgado, Oregon, 

Florentina Manderfield, Pennsylvania, 

Melinda Thayer, Rhode Island, 

Minerva Krummeck, South Carolina, 

Magdalena Delgado, Tennessee, 

Josefa Ellison, Texas, 

Beatriz Alarid, Vermont, 

Lucy Watts, Virginia, 

Paulita Lopez, West Virginia, 

Adelaida Tucker, New Mexico. 

In the procession were General Edward Hatch and his staff 
officers, all in full uniform and mounted upon splendid horses, and 
following them marched company " I," of the 15th United States 
Infantry, under command of Captain Chambers McKibbin and Lieut. 



56 



Greorge A. Cornish. There were three bands of music — that of the 
9th U. S. Cavahy of nineteen instruments, that of St. Michael's Col- 
lege and the Mexican Band of Santa ¥6. The boys composing the 
college band were in uniform — dark dress with shoulders ornamented 
with their colors. The teachers and pupils of the college were also 
out in force. 

Among the most notable features of the procession were those we 
shall now refer to in the order of their appearance in the line. 

Following the soldiers came the boys with their miniature fire 
engine and hook and latter apparatus, decorated with arches of ever- 
greens and flowers. Master George C. Wilder appeared as Captain 
and carried the trumpet. The little fellows were in uniform — red 
shirts, black caps and blue and white pants. 

Next came the crowd of Pueblo Indians (under charge of Gov- 
ernor Amy) — a band of about a hundred grotesque looking creatures 
— men, women and children, dressed in their peculiar Indian cos- 
tumes, and many of them bearing the wares of their home manufac- 
ture. They presented an interesting sight, especially to those who 
were unaccustomed to seeing such. 

After the Indians followed the Donkey Brigade. They were 
mounted on unbridled hurros, dressed in the most grotesque masks 
and costumes, and armed with sabres. They rode their little beasts 
at random ; and the novel scene reminded one of Mark Twain's cav- 
alcade to Damascus. 

The cigar manufactory of Maurice Trauer & Co. was well repre- 
sented by a highly ornamented car, with the workmen busily engaged 
in the moving factory manufacturing cigars, which as fast as made 
they distributed along the route by tossing them into the crowd. 

The Bank Exchange saloon of Harry Mottley was represented 
by a gaily dressed car, containing a counter and its appointments of 
bottles, kegs and tumblers, with representatives from the establishment 
on board. 

Another large and commodiously arranged car represented the 
brewery establishment of Probst & Kirchner in full blast, fireplace 
and all, manufecturing that staple article and favorite drink, lager 
beer. The vehicle resembled a huge locomotive with smoke rolling 
from the stack. 



57 



Arriving at the stand in tlie plaza the procession was disbanded ; 
and the people prepared to witness the proceedings upon the platform, 
a strong and spacious plank structure erected among the trees in the 
east edge of the park, and upon which were now seated the president, 
vicepresidents, marshals, members of the various committees, orators, 
readers, respondents, poet, goddess, Uncle Sam, Young America, 
General Hatch and staff, the reporter hereof and sundry prominent 
citizens. 

After the opening of the exercises by the president of the day 
he announced as in order the singing of the Centennial Hymn com- 
posed for the occasion, which was done by the whole assembly, most 
appropriately to the tune of " Old Hundred." The Declaration of 
Independence was then read in English by Judge William C. Hazle- 
dine and in Spanish by Captain Jesus Maria Sena y Baca. The 
readers executed their tasks in a manner befitting the august occasion, 
seeming in the act to partake of the spirit of the immortal document, 
presented to the world through the Continental Congress exactly one 
hundred years ago. Orations, poem, toasts and responses then fol- 
lowed by the gentlemen and in the order indicated in the foregoing 
publication of the same. The bands closed the morning exercises 
with music, and the people adjourned to their homes until four 
o'clock in the afternoon. 

At four o'clock many people were already again on the plaza, 
the lad'es and children occupying the piazzas of the adjacent two-story 
buildings. The amusement committee had put up a tall smooth and 
well-greased pole in the street, near the northwest corner of the plaza, 
and also arranged for other sports. Precisely at four o'clock the 
military band occupied the Pagoda, the Pueblo Indians deployed in 
front of the " Palace," and in a few moments the public square, the 
streets on its four sides, the sidewalks and balconies were filled with 
people of all ages and conditions intent on seeing the fun, the lowest 
estimate of the crowd being 3000. As the band music progressed 
the Indians stnick up a lively air on their peculiar primitive instru- 
ments, with their " war dance " accompaniment, and the old men 
of the Pueblos procured several large lard cans for musical instru- 
ments, and getting together the women, youths and children, com- 



58 



menced what they called their " corn dance," a lively, sinuous pro- 
cedure of shuffling of feet, clapping of hands, courtesying, etc. 
Next came the wheelbarrow and sack races, which were amusing in 
the highest degree and created rivulets of laughter. Then a race by a 
band of Pueblo Indians, three times around the plaza with the tail of 
their only garment flying in the breeze. Then a hurdle race, four 
hurdles, by well-known Santa Fe athletes. Then a foot-race from 
the Statehouse to the plaza, by Indian and Mexican contestants, with 
jumping, etc. This occupied the time until about six o'clock, when 
the Pueblo Indians went for the greased pole and the sack of silver 
said to be on top. The first Indians attempt was a failure ; the second 
ditto ; the third likewise, and so on until about a dozen had pretty 
well wiped the grease off to abnut half-way to the top, when they 
concluded to try strategy. One fellow would start up, then another 
would " boost " him, until about a half a dozen were strung along, 
clinging to' their slippery perch, when the bottom man would lose his 
grip and the whole party come scooting to the bottom in a bunch. 
TherL another party tried sand, and the top man would carry up sand 
in his shirt-tail and throw it above him on the pole as he slowly went 
up, rubbing off the grease at the same time ; in this way after much 
labor the top was reached, the bag grasped and brought down, when 
lo ! instead of ten silver dollars, as the Indians had been informed, 
there were only four. Then there was aheap of Indian talk, and cuss- 
words flowed free. At this juncture the committee and military came 
to. the rescue, and, in consideration of the labor performed, the am- 
ourtt was increased to $2G, much to the delight of the climbers. By 
this time a summer sun was sinking behind the western hills, glint- 
iiig the aziire heavens with a halo of golden rays, when another rest 
was taken. 

Precisely at 9 o'clock, p. M., the committee on fire-works com- 
menced their labors near the Soldiers' Monument, and while the mil- 
itary band was playing lively and patriotic airs, by the light of the 
lamps in the Pagoda, the available space around was jammed with an 
anxious mass of humanity, who had assembled to witness the pyro- 
technics. Then the rockets disturbed the quiet stars ; the roman 
candles lit up the night with colored flame ; Greek fire spirted ; the 



59 



mines exploded to the alarm of the spectatorvS ; the fire wheels sprin- 
kled fiery sparks on the green turf, while the fronts and tops of the 
surrounding buildings jetted streams of spectral light. It was a 
brilliant scene, and a fitting closing to a grandly spent day. The 
pieces in the fire-display deserving especial mention, were the pictures 
of Washington, her ladyship the Moon in full face, and Venus, the 
Evening Star, the Passion Cross — these were costly and beautiful 
display's. 

Thus ended the. celeb ration of the great Republic's Centennial 
birthday at Santa Fe — an occasion worthy of being long remembered 
as one of pleasant and proud recollections. 



FRANCE." 



[By an oversight on the part of the Committee on Toasts and 
Sentiments, Columbia's most true and steadfast friend in her time oi 
need, fair, sunny, generous France was entirely left out of the list. 
A land that produced a Lafayette and a Kochambeau ; the patron of 
art, literature and science ; the land of revolutions, courage and cour- 
tesy ; of beauty and gallantry ; smiling vineyards and glorious monu- 
ments ; whose people are ever welcome to our .shores, was entitled to 
more than a common-place tribute in the great heart of her sister 
Republic on the anniversary of that sister's Centennial birthday. 
Welcome freedom-loving France !] 



THE PRESS." 



*' Thou mightiest of the mighty means, 
On which the arm of Progress leans, 
Man's noblest. mission to advance, 
His woes assauge, Ms weal enhance, 
His rights enforce, his wrongs redress — 
Mightiest of mighty is the Press." 



60 



SUCCESS TO OUR FLAC." 




" Success to the Flag of our Nation ! 

Its folds all around us be spread ! 
it is blazoned with deeds of the valiant, 

And sacred with names of the dead. 
The stars are the symbol of Union ! 

In Union they ever must wave ! 
The white is the emblem of honor, 

The red is the blood of the brave. 

Success to the Flag of the Nation ! 

Let it sweep o'er the land and the sea ! 
The shades of our heroes are 'round it, 

Beneath it the ranks of the Free, 
We will keep its young glory unsullied, 

In the ages to come, as the past : 
Uprear it a beacon of Freedom, 

Unbowed through all storms, to the last." 



NEW MEXICO." 



BY AN OLD RESIDENT OP SANTA PE. 



I love that land of brilliant clime, 
As bright as mortals ever know ; 

With lovely vales^and hills sublime — 
The land of bright New Mexico. 

I love thy valleys deep and green. 
Where crystal waters laughing flow, 

In wild romance — the hills between. 
The areen vales of New Mexico. 



61 



I love the plains so broad aud free, 
AVhere elk and deer unfettered go, 

With tranquil brook aud lonely tree, 
The broad plains of New Mexico. 

I love the peaks beyond the cloud, 
That glisten with perennial snow, 

The glorious summits of the proud 
Grand sierras of New Mexico. 

I love the hues that gild the west, 
At even-tide, with supernal glow, 

Aud crown the hills in dazzling crest, 
The glorious sun-set of New Mexico. 

I]Iove the soft, melodious tongue. 
That from the lips doth sweetly flow, 

Like strains with harp and timbrel sung. 
The sweet voice of New Mexico. 

I love the silence deep and grand, 
Which reigns around, above, below. 

From mountain top to river strand, 
The solemn stillness of New Mexico. 

I love the skies, so fair, so bright. 

That o'er the earth their radiance throw, 

Serene by day, so grand by night, 
The cerulean skies of New Mexico. 

Oh ! I would haste, would haste away, 
More swiftly than the light can go. 

And there forever fondly stay, 
On the hills of dear New Mexico. 

Oh ! Yes beneath that gentle sky. 
Where moon and stars so softly glow, 

There I would live, there I would die — 
At Santa Fe, in grand New Mexico. 



62 

Then bury mc on the mountains high, 

Thro' vales where Rio Grande's waters flow, 

Whose summits pierce that glorious sky, 
The Rocky Mountains of New Mexico. 

*■ • * • ^ , 

SANTA FE AS A SANITARIUM AND PLEASURE RESORT. 



By will. D. DAWSOX. 



UITE a number of strangers have visited Santa Fe thus far 
during the Summer for health and pleasure, and both parties 
^ seem to be well pleased. Situated as we are 6,c^46 
feet above sea level, latitude 35° 41\ longitude 106° 10\with moun- 
tain and plain in full view, the location is beautiful and healthful. In 
the immediate surroundings the level plain covered with a rich 
growth of cereals, with young orchards and farm houses dotting it'here 
and there, stretches out to a considerable distance on the south and 
west, and recedes into the low hills on the north and east, and very 
nearly all under cultivation. Beyond this, in the distance, the moun- 
tains lift their eternal heads skyward, clothed with verdure, with 
vales of beauty beneath, and sparkling trout streams fringed with love- 
liness meandering tlii-ough each. 

Santa Fe, the ancient and beautiful capital, whose history runs 
far back into the centuries, is nestled in the .center of this central 
scene, and in the center of it is centered the center of its attractive- 
ness, the public park or plaza, where is erected the Soldiers' Monu- 
ment, a noble tribute to the heroes of New Mexico who fell in battle, 
and around which center, shaded walks diverge to the shaded streets, 
and grand old trees throw their leafy arches over this center, where 
centres very frequently the beauty, the elite, the gallantry of the 
central city of the County and Territory, and where on great occas- 
ions, ever^'body, his wife and little ones find a common center, the 
starry banner, as the central figure, waving in graceful curves over all. 

But we commenced this item for the purpose of calling attention 
to Santa Fe as a health and pleasure resort. Its markets are sup- 
plied with fruits, both native and imported ; with vegetables as tender 



.63 



■and sweet as ever dame nature nurtured ; with meats, domestic and 
wild, fat, juicy and toothsome ; with feathered game in its season ; 
with frog's legs and fish all the year round ; with good hotels and 
restaurants ; with talented, kind-hearted physicians and comfortable 
hospitals ; with patient and attentive nurses ; with refined and social 
people ; with mountains where deer, elk and sheep love to wander ; 
with silvery streams abounding with the sweetest of fish ; with trusty 
guides and old excursionists to show the way and make good com- 
pany. With a climate incoinparable the whole year round for even- 
ness, mildness and healthfulness. With nights for sleep undisturbed 
by heat and poisonous insects. With sun-set scenes rivaling Italy's 
beautiful skies. With noons of blue and golden splendor. _ With 
dawns of rainbow tints, dew-gemmed and sparkling. With newspa- 
pers, libraries, telegraph lines, buck-boards, ambulances and coaches. 
Easy of ingress and outgo to and from all parts of creation. Where 
can Ije seen the crude civilization of the past and the progTess of the 
present. TNTiere the Indians are as gentle as doves, and the military 
always on the alert. 

In a word, Santa Fe is a pleasant place for both the health and 
pleasure-seeker, but will not become generally patronized as such un- 
til a line of railroad connects it with the rest of the world. In this 
fast age people live fast, die fast, and must travel fast — hence. Colo- 
rado has been getting the bulk of the visiting public to the Rocky 
Mountains since the completion of her' railroads, while* Santa Fe and 
other desirable portions of New Mexico have been somewhat neglec- 
ted. . But they are coming, and the plan of building a grand hotel 
somewhere in the central portion of the city to accommodate the 
cpmers, is talked of by resident capitalists, and a railroad company 
organized with $1,500,000 capital to connect the Capital City of 
New Mexico with one of the lines that terminate near the border of 
New IMexico, as constructed by the Denver & Eio Grande Railway, 
the Atchinson, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad, and the Kansas Pacific 
Railway. The distance from the terminus* of the Railroad at El 
iNIoro to Santa Fe is 220 miles, and is supplied with stage transporta- 
tion by the Southern Overland Mail and Express, Barlow & Sander- 
son, proprietors, who have arranged to transport passengers in their 
coaches in thirty-six hours from El Moro, Colorado, to Santa Fe. 



64 



GENERAL COMMITTEE OF ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE 

CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION IN SANTA FE, 

JULY 4TH, 1876. 



At a mass meeting of citizens of Santa Fe, held in Legislative 
Hall on the night of May 23, 1876, Ex-Governor Ai-ny called the 
meeting to order and General J. K. Proudfit was elected President, 
Wm. C. Hazledine and Captain Jesus M. Sena y Baca Secretary and 
assistant Secretary. 

Upon motion Gen. Smith and Gov. Arny were elected vice-pres- 
idents. 

The following resolution was presented by Governor Arny : 

Resolved, That a Committee of General Arrangements be ap- 
pointed, number equal to the states of the Union with our sister Colorado 
thrown in, which resolution was unanimously adopted, and the fol- 
lowing thirty-eight gentlemen were selected as such committee : 
Gov. W. F. M. Arny, Chairman. 

Jose D. Sena, J. K. Proudfit, Nicolas Pino, A. G. Irvine, 
Felipe B. Delgado, E. Andrews, Trinidad Alarid, Willi Spiegelberg, 
Jesus M. Sena y Baca, William C. Hazledine, Ambrosio Ortiz, Sig- 
mund Seligman, Antonio Ortiz y Salazar, James L. Johnson, Rafael 
Lopez, Z. Staab, John Ritter, Noa Ilfeld, Solomon Spiegelberg, Gas- 
par Ortiz, A. Z. Huggins, W. D. Dawson, Anastacio Sandoval, Chas. 
H. Gildersleeve, John Watts, Clemente P. Ortiz, H. M. Atkinson, 
Lewis Kingman, R. H. Longwill, T. S. Tucker, S. H. Lucas, 
Epifanio Vigil, C. M. Conklin, Joseph Spitznagle, William Bolander, 
J. M. Gough and George W. Howland. 

On motion of John Ritter, W. D. Dawson, representative of the 
New 3Iexica)i, was requested to report the proceedings of the meet- 
ing, and the New Mexican was requested to publish the proceedings 
in English and Spanish. 

JAS. K. PROUDFIT, President. 
G. A. SMITH, W. F. M. ARNY, Vice-Presidents. 

W. C. Hazledine, J. M. Sena y Baca, Secretaries. 



017 063 243 6 # 



